10. Evidence of Outstanding Certificate of Inspection.—
It is specifically forbidden to issue a ship's document on any vessel subject to the inspection laws until a copy of the certificate of inspection as issued by the Local Inspectors, has been filed with the Collector of Customs. If the original certificate is not available, a certified copy can always be secured from the office of the proper Collector of Customs.
Bill of Sale Not Required on Original Documentation.—
The foregoing completes the steps or documents necessary for the original registration of a vessel.
It will be observed that no reference has been made to a bill of sale. This is because no such bill is required by law to be produced at the first registration. In fact the only bill of sale recognized by statute is a bill which itself contains a copy of the ship's document, and therefore such a bill could not be produced before the registration had actually taken place. All that is required in the first instance, therefore, is the Carpenter's Certificate with the affidavits as to ownership, etc. These documents are taken as establishing the ownership, and laying the foundation for registry in a particular name. However, the bill of sale may be actually in existence, having been given either by the builder himself or by some one who had subsequently acquired title to the vessel before her documentation. In such case the bill of sale should be produced to complete the chain of title, and will be retained at the Custom House with the Carpenter's Certificate as a link in the chain. But it will not be recorded, for the law makes no provision for the recording of bills of sale except in the sense of transfers of documented vessels, as hereafter referred to.
Surrender and Reissue of Documents.—
The foregoing summarizes the steps to be followed in the case of an original registration. But on every change in the status of the vessel a new registry must be secured, and the vessel must be documented anew. This is the case where a vessel is sold in whole or in part to a citizen of the United States, or where it is altered in whole or in part, by being rebuilt or lengthened or built upon, or is changed from one classification or denomination to another, by alteration in its mode or method of rigging or fitting. It also applies to the case of a change of name as hereafter referred to, and, in case of corporations, to the death of the officer in whose name vessel is documented.
It should be borne in mind that the penalty for failure to effect such a new registration is the severe one that the vessel shall cease to be considered a vessel of the United States. No time limit for the accruing of this penalty, however, has been fixed by law.
In case of such new registration the process is the same as above outlined, but omitting the earlier steps relative to the measurement and marking of vessel, official number, etc., all of which are certified to by the previous document.