46 U.S.C. § 12104
Section 12104 · Applications for documentation
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 15 court decisions — leading case Chase Manhattan Financial Services, Inc. v. McMillian (1990)
Most recently applied in 453 F. Supp. 2d 905 - Northern Insurance v. 1996 Searay Model 370DA Yacht (May 2006)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
(a) In General.—An application for a certificate of documentation or endorsement under this chapter must be filed by the owner of the vessel. The application must be filed in the manner, be in the form, and contain the information prescribed by the Secretary.
(b) Applicant's Identifying Information.—The Secretary shall require the applicant to provide—
(1) if the applicant is an individual, the individual's social security number; or
(2) if the applicant is an entity—
(A) the entity's taxpayer identification number; or
(B) if the entity does not have a taxpayer identification number, the social security number of an individual who is a corporate officer, general partner, or individual trustee of the entity and who signs the application.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
SectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 12104(a) 46:12103(a) (related to filing by owner), (b)(1). 12104(b) 46:12103(b)(2). Prior Provisions A prior section 12104, Pub. L. 98–89, Aug. 26, 1983, 97 Stat. 586; Pub. L. 99–36, §1(a)(7)(B), May 15, 1985, 99 Stat. 67; Pub. L. 101–225, title III, §301(a)(4), Dec. 12, 1989, 103 Stat. 1920, originally derived from section 65g of former Title 46, Shipping, related to effect of documentation, prior to the general amendment of this chapter by Pub. L. 109–304. See section 12134 of this title.