Abandoned Vessel Prevention Act

The Abandoned Vessel Prevention Act would update federal vessel law to make the person who transfers a commercial or former commercial boat to someone for recreational use responsible for certain expenses if the new owner doesn’t have insurance at the time of transfer and the boat later sinks.

Key points:

• Who is affected: People and businesses that sell or give old commercial boats for personal/recreational use, and the new owners of those boats.
• What changes: Liability for specified expenses from the sinking can fall on the person who transferred the vessel if the transferee lacked applicable insurance when the title changed hands; this focuses on decommissioned commercial vessels used for recreation.