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We've been sailing for a little over a year now. We've encountered many US flagged boats where there isn't a single US citizen owner, captain, or crew aboard. T

by yardie 11y ago

We've been sailing for a little over a year now. We've encountered many US flagged boats where there isn't a single US citizen owner, captain, or crew aboard. This has been the case where the owner is Turkish, Israeli, Emirati, and lots of middle-east countries. The super yachts still prefer to use the Marshall Islands, Caymans, or Gibraltar as their flag of registration. Our boat is US LLC registered since my wife, a foreign national, can't be a direct owner for a US registered vessel. Nor can I be registered owner in her country as a non-citizen. So a US LLC is a convenient neutral mechanism. It's split 51/49% with me having the controlling shares as required by law.

zekevermillion 11y ago
Why would you want a US-flagged boat other than patriotism? (Not being facetious, actually curious if there's a reason to prefer Amurrican to one of the more typical flag countries.)
- bzbarsky 11y ago
  For a commercial vessel, if you want to carry cargo from one US port to another. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merchant_Marine_Act_of_1920 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merchant_Marine_Act_of_1920 though that also requires the vessel to be US-built/owned/crewed...
- superuser2 11y ago
  Theoretically, the protection of the US Navy.
  - rpgmaker 11y ago
    Watching Captain Phillips one of the things that impressed me the most was how much money and effort was put into rescuing Captain Phillips and his crew. Of course much of the pressure was political with Obama just starting out his presidency but still, it was a clear indication that it pays to be American.
- yardie 11y ago
  Whats a typical flag country? You mean Panama, Liberia, Cayman islands? To get those flags costs thousands of dollars per year in incorporation fees. For your typical billion dollar cruise liner, or megayacht, this is a rounding error. My DE corporate taxes are $300/year. Its a bargain in comparison.

by yardie 11y ago

zekevermillion 11y ago

Why would you want a US-flagged boat other than patriotism? (Not being facetious, actually curious if there's a reason to prefer Amurrican to one of the more typical flag countries.)

bzbarsky 11y ago
For a commercial vessel, if you want to carry cargo from one US port to another. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merchant_Marine_Act_of_1920 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merchant_Marine_Act_of_1920 though that also requires the vessel to be US-built/owned/crewed...
superuser2 11y ago
Theoretically, the protection of the US Navy.
- rpgmaker 11y ago
  Watching Captain Phillips one of the things that impressed me the most was how much money and effort was put into rescuing Captain Phillips and his crew. Of course much of the pressure was political with Obama just starting out his presidency but still, it was a clear indication that it pays to be American.
yardie 11y ago
Whats a typical flag country? You mean Panama, Liberia, Cayman islands? To get those flags costs thousands of dollars per year in incorporation fees. For your typical billion dollar cruise liner, or megayacht, this is a rounding error. My DE corporate taxes are $300/year. Its a bargain in comparison.