If you find a boat without an owner, you might feel inclined to claim it for yourself. You might be able to do this, but first you need to consult the abandoned boat title to make sure you can.
Consulting an Abandoned Boat Title
If you want to claim an abandoned boat for yourself, you will first need to confirm whether the vessel is abandoned or not. This means that you’ll need to consult the abandoned boat title with Transport Canada to learn whether or not there are official ownership claims over the vessel.
Go Over a Boat’s Ownership Status
So, how can you consult the abandoned boat title? After all, you’ll need to know whether it is abandoned or not, and this tool should help you. You will have to request a history report for the boat, which will provide information from the Ship Registration’s Computer System Database from 1984 to the present, or from microfilm if the vessel was registered before 1984. To do so, the process will require the official number or the vessel name to carry out the consultation. This process is for registered vessels only, and it won’t include vessels licensed under the Pleasure Craft Licensing system. You can easily take care of this request here through our platform.
What Can You Do With the Boat?
Once you’ve consulted the registry and found the abandoned boat title, it will be time to figure out what to do with it. If you find out that it is indeed registered under an official owner, you have the option of trying to reach them. By definition, an abandoned vessel has been relinquished, left, or given up by the lawful owner without the intention to later resume any right or interest in the vessel. This means that should you find an abandoned boat, it has been relinquished to a certain degree by its owner. Of course, the abandoned boat in question might be a boat that has been lost or stolen, so reaching out to the registered owner is always a good idea. There will be another situation that you might need to take into account, though.
For Military or Government Boats
In the case you run into what is an abandoned government or a military vessel, you don’t have to do much about it beyond reaching out to Transport Canada. They will take care of collecting and disposing of the vessel going forward, which is something important to keep in mind. You can’t do anything to the vessel, so be sure to go through the right process.
Register Your Boat With Transport Canada
Filing any sort of registration or license application with Transport Canada can be somewhat challenging for a variety of reasons. Requirements can get confusing, and forms can be frustrating. For that reason, we have set up this platform: to help you navigate the wide variety of processes handled by Transport Canada without any issues. Trust our team to assist you with getting your watercraft’s documentation processed quickly and easily. You can find all the forms you might need on our menu, but feel free to reach out to us if you have any doubts about any of them. We’re here to help you get your documentation in order.
