Good News Regarding DMV Vessel Registration

The Department of Public Safety released an advisory recently stating no citations will be issued for failure to register with the State of Alaska Department of Motor Vehicles.  

Department of Public Safety Advisory

Location: Statewide

Advisory Text:

During the last legislative session, Senate Bill 145 (in collaboration with companion House Bill 185) was introduced to ensure vessels registered with CFEC be exempted from the need to also register with the State of Alaska. Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond anyone’s control, the bill did not quite make it into law. The intent of SB145 was to clean up the duplicative registration requirement with multiple entities. Once passed, this bill will eliminate duplicative registration requirements while still providing a database of registered owners, as intended by passage of SB 92. In addition, AS 05.25.055(f) states that vessels with a current federal certificate, which are operated less than 90 consecutive days in Alaskan waters, are exempt from further registration requirements. The intent of the legislation was to exempt this type of vessel from duplicative registration. If a recreational or commercial vessel has current federal documentation and we find it has been operated in the waters of Alaska for more than 90 days, no citation will be issued for failure to register with the State of Alaska. This direction is effective immediately and until further notice.