US flag and Cuba

[XSPACE2]

Originally Posted by meirriba

Not exactly.
Thousands of boats are registered in countries that are not the countries of owner's residence.
Usually due to tax reasons, but not only.

Yes. and not only for tax reasons ( my boat is 32 ft and 30 years old,, taxes are peanuts).. but if you buy a boat built outside EU you will need all originals plans, and certificates from the company who built it to register it in any EU country ... In USA you just need a bill of sale ( usa always been more simple than EU for paperworks) ... this is one of the reasons.... To be honest US flag is useful and welcome in that case , but not ideal :.. yes US navy is very present worldwide to help and protect you, but on the other hand a few countries are a bit 'cold' with US boats , and for pirates and in poor countries US flag = $ on board.

[XSPACE2]

Originally Posted by jmschmidt

If your boat is state registered you can fly any flag you want as a courtesy but this does not mean you are operating "under US flag." This term has a specific meaning under US and international law. If you are not a US citizen you cannot own a US Coast Guard documented vessel. I don't know about dual nationals.

Certain nations prohibit entry of vessels that are not fully documented to fly a specific national flag. Check before you plan to enter the territorial waters of any foreign country to verify that state registration meets the local requirement.

Not exactly, thousands of Boats registered in Delaware belongs to Europeans, Australians, and Asian companies... and thousands of boats registered in the UK, Malta or Cyprus belongs to American companies... without forgetting that most of US cargo ships are registered in Panama and Bahamas... my case is not isolated , it s very common.

[XSPACE2]

Originally Posted by jmschmidt

If your boat is state registered you can fly any flag you want as a courtesy but this does not mean you are operating "under US flag." This term has a specific meaning under US and international law. If you are not a US citizen you cannot own a US Coast Guard documented vessel. I don't know about dual nationals.

Certain nations prohibit entry of vessels that are not fully documented to fly a specific national flag. Check before you plan to enter the territorial waters of any foreign country to verify that state registration meets the local requirement.

yes you are right . but a company can own a Boat Fully American for US Coast guard...Delaware registered boats are fully legal US and each time i ve been inspected in and out florida to sail to and from Carribeans , i never had a problem : The Boat is an American vessel sailing back home, and the captain is from a country who doesn t need any kind of visa to stay in usa at the moment he doesnt work in the country... as they say : you're good to go !

[XSPACE2]

Thank you all for your info's. To summarise i think i don t take much risks if i anchorage in Cuba.. i speak spanish, EU passeports are welcome in Cuba.. i ll take my chance..should be fine.
ps : for the few comments about covid restrictions, of course we will wait that things get better... for now we can t even fly in the US where our boat is patiently waiting for 9 months, so our next sailing trip is not for tomorow. I m not complainging about this, situation is like this these days for all of us... thanks to all anyway...and hope like us you ll be able to jump on your boat soon

[Mahayana]

xspace2 is correct. Go to Cuba. Return from The Bahamas or the Caymans or the DR, etc.

[Montanan]

Originally Posted by XSPACE2

hi everyone ! I hold a european passport (Belgium) but my sailboat is registered in Delaware and docked all year in FL so i navigate under US flag. Can i anchorage in Cuban waters during my route Keys > Isla mujeres ?

FYI:

Several major issues you present.

A boat that is kept in Florida needs to be registered in Florida. Since Delaware is NOT the State of Principle Use, the Delaware State registration is de facto invalid. Highly recommend that your promptly reregister your boat in Florida.

Additionally a vessel registered with the State of Delaware is not a USA flagged vessel; only nation states can grant nationality to a vessel per UNCLOS. Delaware is not a nation State, it is just a State; same issue as to Florida, not a nation, only a State. Your boat is inappropriately registered with the State of Delaware and is not a documented boat with the US Coast Guard which you can't have documented since you are not a USA citizen. You could flag your boat with your nation, Belgium, or with a flag of convenience. Presently, internationally your boat is considered an undocumented boat not validly being a flagged vessel. As an undocumented boat it is immediately subject to the laws of the nation upon which waters it resides. It is not accorded / granted foreign flagged vessel status which includes such things as right of innocent passage, or temporary waiver of registration with the nation upon which waters you have brought it into, [many additional factors not worth going into in this short thread]. Note; Do not confuse Undocumented Vessel Status and the term "documented" as the word "documented" applies to the USCG. The USCG term documented refers to titling and flagging of the vessel.

As to travel to Cuba. You are not an American citizen so it is unlikely that the travel restrictions that the U.S. State Department and Treasury Department and Commerce Department have imposed regarding Cuba would apply to you personally. Don't travel to Cuba from the USA, leave from Europe if you wish to fly for a visit.

However, taking your boat from the USA to Cuba would be deemed an export transaction and is prohibited under the USA Export Administration Regulations. Don't do that.

Treasury and Commerce Implement Changes to Cuba Sanctions Rules
264
https://www.state.gov/united-states-...ssels-to-cuba/

June 4, 2019
WASHINGTON – Today, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) unveiled amendments to the Cuban Assets Control Regulations (CACR) to further implement the President’s foreign policy on Cuba. These amendments complement changes to the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) Export Administration Regulations (EAR), which Commerce is also unveiling today. These regulatory changes were announced on April 17, 2019 and include restrictions on non-family travel to Cuba.

“Cuba continues to play a destabilizing role in the Western Hemisphere, providing a communist foothold in the region and propping up U.S. adversaries in places like Venezuela and Nicaragua by fomenting instability, undermining the rule of law, and suppressing democratic processes,” said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. “This Administration has made a strategic decision to reverse the loosening of sanctions and other restrictions on the Cuban regime. These actions will help to keep U.S. dollars out of the hands of Cuban military, intelligence, and security services.”

These actions mark a continued commitment towards implementing the National Security Presidential Memorandum signed by the President on June 16, 2017 titled “Strengthening the Policy of the United States Toward Cuba.” These policies continue to work to channel economic activities away from the Cuban military, intelligence, and security services. The Treasury changes will take effect on June 5, 2019 when the regulations are published in the Federal Register.

For the Treasury regulations, which can be found at 31 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) part 515, see here. For the Commerce regulations, which can be found at 15 CFR parts 730-774, see here. Major elements of the changes in the revised regulations include:

ENDING GROUP PEOPLE-TO-PEOPLE TRAVEL
In accordance with the newly announced changes to non-family travel to Cuba, OFAC is amending the regulations to remove the authorization for group people-to-people educational travel. OFAC’s regulatory changes include a “grandfathering” provision, which provides that certain group people-to-people educational travel that previously was authorized will continue to be authorized where the traveler had already completed at least one travel-related transaction (such as purchasing a flight or reserving accommodation) prior to June 5, 2019. Please note that travel-related transactions continue to be permitted by general licenses for certain categories of travel and certain authorized export transactions. For more on authorized travel to Cuba, please click here.

ENDING EXPORTS OF PASSENGER VESSELS, RECREATIONAL VESSELS, AND PRIVATE AIRCRAFT
BIS, in coordination with OFAC, is amending the EAR to make passenger and recreational vessels and private and corporate aircraft ineligible for a license exception and to establish a general policy of denial for license applications involving those vessels and aircraft.
Resources:
Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) Press Release on Updated Cuba Export Administration Regulations (EAR)
State Department Press Guidance on Updated Cuba Regulations

More information and OFAC Frequently Asked Questions on travel to Cuba


United States Restricts Travel and Vessels to Cuba
MEDIA NOTE

OFFICE OF THE SPOKESPERSON

WASHINGTON, DC

JUNE 4, 2019
https://www.state.gov/united-states-...ssels-to-cuba/

Today, the United States took strong action to prevent U.S. travel to Cuba from enriching the Cuban military, security, and intelligence services by announcing new restrictions on authorized travel and vessels to the island.

Going forward, the United States will prohibit U.S. travelers from going to Cuba under the previous ‘group people-to-people educational’ travel authorization. In addition, the United States will no longer permit visits to Cuba via passenger and recreational vessels, including cruise ships and yachts, and private and corporate aircraft.

The United States holds the Cuban regime accountable for its repression of the Cuban people, its interference in Venezuela, and its direct role in the man-made crisis led by Nicolas Maduro. Despite widespread international condemnation, Maduro continues to undermine his country’s institutions and subvert the Venezuelan people’s right to self-determination. Empowered by Cuba, he has created a humanitarian disaster that destabilizes the region.

These actions are directly linked to the tourism industry, which has strong economic ties to the Cuban security, military, and intelligence sectors in Cuba. Veiled tourism has served to line the pockets of the Cuban military, the very same people supporting Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela and repressing the Cuban people on the island. In Cuba, the regime continues to harass, intimidate, and jail Cubans who dare to voice an opinion different from the one the regime wants them to have. The United States calls on the regime to abandon its repression of Cubans, cease its interference in Venezuela, and work toward building a stable, prosperous, and free country for the Cuban people.

For more information on the regulations on U.S. travel to Cuba and restrictions on vessels and aircraft, please refer to releases by the Departments of the Treasury and Commerce.

For further information, please contact WHA Press at WHA_Press@state.gov and EB Press at EB-A-PD-DL@state.gov.

[slipaway]

Slightly off topic, but since a post raised the point of US documented vessels and US citizenship, some might find this article instructive. It is from 2017 but I don't believe the law has changed.

https://www.marlinmag.com/foreign-ci...g-boats-in-us/

For the actual law addressing the issue: 46 U.S. Code § 12103

[Montanan]

". . . the international community depends upon a specialized jurisdictional system to maintain public order on the high seas: the law of the flag. Under the law of the flag, a ship has the nationality of the country whose flag it is entitled to fly. This country is often referred to as the flag state. The U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and customary international law provide that, with a few notable exceptions, the flag state has exclusive jurisdiction over its vessels on the high seas.

Furthermore, under customary and treaty international law, only the flag state
can exercise diplomatic protection on a vessel's behalf.33 Individuals have no
standing to contest a vessel's treatment because the freedom of navigation, on
which the law of the sea is premised, belongs to states, not individuals. 34
In addition to these rights, the flag state has several responsibilities,
including the responsibility to ensure that its ships comply with domestic and
international law and regulations. Article 94 of UNCLOS lays out the basic
duties of the flag state. 35 Most notably, a state must exercise "jurisdiction and
control [over its fleet] in administrative, technical, and social matters." 3 6
Control includes ensuring that ships are seaworthy and comply with relevant
labor regulations and criminal laws. 37 Furthermore, "[n]ationality also
indicates which State is responsible in international law for the vessel in cases
where an act or omission of the vessel is attributable to the State."38
Each state generally has complete discretion to determine the criteria by
which ships become entitled to carry its nationality. There has been growing
international pressure to require states to have a "genuine link," as codified in
Article 91 of UNCLOS, with their fleet.39 However, practically speaking,
many states do not require such a link. 40 The lack of a genuine-link
requirement has led to the rise of "flags of convenience," where ships register
with states with which they have no real connection because the state is known
to have low fees and few enforcement mechanisms.41
In addition to ships flying flags of convenience, some ships have no
nationality at all. Ships without nationality, also called stateless, flagless, or
unregistered vessels, undermine the law-of-the-flag regime. Because stateless
vessels do not have a flag state, no state can exercise control over them on the high seas or provide diplomatic protection on their behalf.42 Ships can become
stateless in a variety of ways. They may lose their nationality if they violate
their flag state's laws or do not comply with its requirements; their flag state
may be unrecognized by the international community; or they may never
register with any state.43 Furthermore, ships that sail under more than one flag,
using one or the other according to convenience, are "assimilated" to stateless
ships under UNCLOS." Because stateless ships do not enjoy the protection of
any state, some countries and scholars have asserted that any state can assert
jurisdiction over them.45 But, as discussed infra, a ship's statelessness alone
46
may not authorize such actions.

https://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/...9&context=yjil


Under UNCLOS:

Rights of passage and navigation
The Convention preserves the right of innocent passage
for foreign ships in the territorial sea of a coastal State.
Additionally, ships and aircraft of all States are allowed
“transit passage” through straits used for international
navigation and States bordering such straits can regulate navigational and other aspects of transit passage.
In the exclusive economic zone and on the high
seas, all States including land-locked States have the
freedom of navigation. Land-locked States also have the
right of access to and from the sea and the right to enjoy
freedom of transit through the territory of transit States.

A few snipets of the UNCLOS Convention.

Article 1
Use of terms and scope
1. For the purposes of this Convention:
2. (1) "States Parties" means States which have consented to be bound
by this Convention and for which this Convention is in force.

Article 90
Right of navigation
Every State, whether coastal or land-locked, has the right to sail ships
flying its flag on the high seas.

Article 91
Nationality of ships
1. Every State shall fix the conditions for the grant of its nationality to
ships, for the registration of ships in its territory, and for the right to fly its
flag. Ships have the nationality of the State whose flag they are entitled to
fly. There must exist a genuine link between the State and the ship.
2. Every State shall issue to ships to which it has granted the right to
fly its flag documents to that effect.

[Montanan]

Regarding travel and export to Cuba, as to the US Export Administration Regulations:

Violations of the Export Administration Regulations, 15 C.F.R. Parts 730-774 (EAR) may be subject to both criminal and administrative penalties. Under the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C. §§ 4801-4852) (ECRA), criminal penalties can include up to 20 years of imprisonment and up to $1 million in fines per violation, or both. Administrative monetary penalties can reach up to $300,000 per violation or twice the value of the transaction, whichever is greater. In general, the administrative monetary penalty maximum is adjusted for inflation annually.

Violators may also be subject to the denial of their export privileges as further described below. A denial of export privileges prohibits a person from participating in any way in any transaction subject to the EAR. Furthermore, it is unlawful for other businesses and individuals to participate in any way in an export transaction subject to the EAR with a denied person.

Administrative Enforcement Cases

Penalty Guidance

BIS issued Administrative Enforcement Guidelines in 2018 to promote greater transparency and predictability to the administrative enforcement process. These guidelines also more closely align the administrative enforcement policies and procedures of BIS with those of the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.

[boatpoker]

A number of posters on this thread seriously need to research the difference between a US State Registered Vessel and a US USCG Documented Vessel.

[Montanan]

Originally Posted by boatpoker

A number of posters on this thread seriously need to research the difference between a US State Registered Vessel and a US USCG Documented Vessel.

+1,

[Montanan]

It would be beneficial if posts had correct information, instead of conjecture and misinformation.

FYI from the International Yacht Brokers Association.

YES - DELAWARE IS A TAX FREE STATE FOR VESSEL PURCHASES – BUT!

Many of our clients are under the impression that if they obtain a Delaware Registration the vessel will remain tax free. Unfortunately, this is not true.

First, you must think in terms of where the vessel is physically located when you take possession of it. Then you must review the tax rules of that particular state.

Next, you need to know if the vessel is staying in the state where you took possession, or if you will be moving it to another location. Then of course, you must review the tax ramifications of the state you are moving the vessel to.

It all gets a little complicated for a first time yacht buyer. But actually, it’s relatively simple if you look at each step separately.

Simply setting up a Delaware Corporation or a Delaware LLC will not necessarily accomplish what you want.

NON U.S. CITIZENS OWNING A DELAWARE REGISTERED VESSEL
CRUISING IN THE UNITED STATES

A non U.S. Citizen may own a Delaware Corporation or LLC which in turn will own a vessel registered in Delaware. The vessel may cruise the waters of the United States, BUT, according to U.S. Customs, must fly the flag of the country of the Owner of the Corporation or LLC. Albeit the flag of the country of the Owner, only denotes the nationality of the owner, it does not convey nationality to the vessel under UNCLOS, the vessel remains "stateless" until it is officially flagged by the State that participates in UNCLOS. Do not confuse the owner's nationality and the vessel's nationality. Flying the foreign flag denotes the vessel is subject to US Customs and likely US border control.

The vessel must also clear in and out of U.S. Customs whenever it moves from port to port within the United States.

If the vessel visits another state, and stays beyond the “visiting period” allowed by that state, then the vessel owner has become vulnerable to the taxing laws of that particular state and registration within that state.



Florida has Sales and Use taxation, the OP can expect to pay that if the OP has not already done such upon purchase, and with penalties if there has been undue delay of registration in Florida, which if the boat has been in Florida for nine months it is WAY PAST DUE. Florida's visiting period is limited to 90 days.

Florida recognizes valid state registration certificates and numbers issued to visiting vessel owners by other states for a period of 90 days. An owner who intends to use his vessel in Florida longer than 90 days must register it with a county tax collector.

As to US Documented Vessels
Vessel documentation is a national form of registration for vessels with a net weight of five tons or more. Vessels are documented by the Federal Government (U.S. Coast Guard) and not by individual states. These vessels are not titled in Florida, or any other state of the United States - a vessel may be documented or titled, but not both.

A documented vessel must be registered in Florida, if used on Florida waters for longer than 90 days. The registration number will be the official federal documentation number and a decal will also be issued. The decal must be affixed to a window or the windshield on the port side of the vessel. The registration will be issued in the name shown on the federal documentation papers. Commercial vessels registered to a non-resident of Florida pay an additional fee of $50.00.

Florida appears to NOT have property taxation on vessels.

Info on Florida Sales and Use taxation. https://floridarevenue.com/Forms_lib...t/gt800005.pdf

Info on Florida Titling and Registration of Vessels:
https://www.flhsmv.gov/motor-vehicle...registrations/

[yobird]

Originally Posted by jmschmidt

If your boat is state registered you can fly any flag you want as a courtesy but this does not mean you are operating "under US flag." This term has a specific meaning under US and international law. If you are not a US citizen you cannot own a US Coast Guard documented vessel. I don't know about dual nationals.

Certain nations prohibit entry of vessels that are not fully documented to fly a specific national flag. Check before you plan to enter the territorial waters of any foreign country to verify that state registration meets the local requirement.

?.....
That's what I thought, see above post. Never heard of an old rule.
Usa documented uscg vessel means usa owner of the vessel not Captain. Correct me if I'm wromg.

[yobird]

Lots of good info in your post.
To reiterate FL registration of the said vessel only applies if staying in FL for more than 90 days.

[aeronautic1]

Originally Posted by XSPACE2

hi everyone ! I hold a european passport (Belgium) but my sailboat is registered in Delaware and docked all year in FL so i navigate under US flag. Can i anchorage in Cuban waters during my route Keys > Isla mujeres ?

You're headed to Mexico? No problem. Enjoy Cuba.