There are regulations that you need to comply with when you have a commercial vessel in Canada. This helps to get your boat into the water and start operating. These regulations are mainly for the safety of yourself, passengers and the vessel itself.
When you lose your certificate, it is ideal to process a Requirement and Submission replacement certificate. Being a first-time owner, it is important to ensure that your vessel is legally on the water. Get a replacement certificate if the original one was lost, or damaged. Here is how you can get replacement certificate.
1. Certification
All documents need to be submitted to make sure that your vessel is certified. There are several types of documents that are required. The Transport Canada handles all the certification processes. They inspect and certify all commercial vessels that range between 15 to 150 gross tonnage. Even the commercial vessels that carry passengers of more than 12 people are required to be certified. The Transport Canada works with the third-party organizations that carry out the inspection and certification.
- Number of inspections and certification
When the initial inspection is done, there are other inspections that are done regularly. All the small vessels must be inspected and certified before starting their operations. You are required to call the inspectors and do the inspection on your vessel. The vessels that carry more than 12 passengers are inspected yearly. These are the boats that have a 15 gross tonnage. The vessels that range between 15 to 150 gross tonnage are inspected every 4 years.
- Type of documentation
There are different types of documentation. This includes a certificate of documentation for registry, fishery, and recreation purposes. All documented boats can be used for recreation. But, the vessels that are documented for recreational purposes cannot be used for other uses. If any of these documents are missing or damaged, you need to get replacement certificate quickly.
- Requirements for documentation
In order to get replacement certificate, you are required to include certification of ownership of the boat and Canadian citizenship. You are also asked to provide eligibility for the type of endorsement that you are looking for. There are several forms that need to be filled with different types of documentation. This can be overwhelming to most people but it’s important that it should be done. Operating a vessel that is not certified is illegal and can get you into problems.
- How to Get Replacement Certificate
If your certificate is not usable, you need to get it replaced as soon as possible. This applies to all the vessels that have been previously registered in the Canadian Register of Vessels. There are also some commercial boats that were registered with the Small Vessel Register that can get a replacement certificate. When processing a Requirement and Submission replacement certificate, you will be asked to provide information such as an official number and vessel number. You will also be required to provide a port of entry of the vessel and a payment is needed.