Changing nationality of boat in the US

[belzebub2]

Hi,

Does anybody have experianceof changing a boats nationalety while in the US ?

I Have my boat in the US, the boat is swedish flagged.
I need to sell it, the buyer is Italian.
So can the boat change nationality while in the US ?

Thank you!

[Seymore]

Yes, just sell it and re-flag it routinely, as if you were in Sweden. The US has nothing to do with it.

If the boat was US flagged, you'd have to get permission from the State Department to sell it to 'aliens'.

[valhalla360]

Check with the actual authorities. While reflagging should be straight forward, if the new owner gets pulled over or when the boat leaves the USA, the paperwork won't match with what was shown on arrival.

It may be as simple as keeping a copy of the bill of sale or old registration info but better to ask first what will be accepted.

PS: Recent thread about a faux Viking long ship making the mistake of not asking the authorities. Lots of whining but they wound up paying for port captains because they failed to confirm it with the actual authorities.