Insights/Industry/Marine Finance

Chapter 313 Mortgages and Florida Control Belong on One Hull Package

Yacht and commercial marine deals layer preferred ship mortgages under 46 U.S.C. Chapter 313 with state vessel packaging, so hull identity, surveys, and UCC § 9-105 control have to tell one story. Florida § 679.1051 is the coastal control statute many yacht lenders already meet.

Safeclose TeamMarine Finance

Your marine desk lives between titled hulls, preferred ship mortgages under 46 U.S.C. Chapter 313, dealer floorplans, and brokered secondaries. Hull numbers, surveys, insurance binders, and mortgage packs in separate threads are why funding stalls at the dock. A hull with value belongs on collateral rails with a clear original, so owner and lender can both control that chattel.

If the payment obligation and security agreement are electronic chattel paper under § 9-102, § 9-105 control of the authoritative copy still sits next to the ship-mortgage or state-title path. American yards export this paper. The custody story has to be clean before it leaves home.

Two Regimes, One Package

Chapter 313 mortgages and maritime lien rules do not retire Article 9 for electronic contract custody. Coastal counsel usually runs both. The break happens when the mortgage pack and the electronic original split after the first broker email.

Florida § 679.1051 is the state control statute yacht lenders already meet on deals that also touch Florida vessel practice. Default UCC9 compliant vaulting keeps the electronic original identifiable even when the hull sits in another marina. You can prove who holds the original. The takeout buyer does not rebuild from a marina inbox.

  • Dealer and broker files have to match the package credit booked
  • Survey and insurance evidence append to that funded identity
  • Takeout buyers inherit TOLEC lineage, not a marina inbox

From Slip to Secondary Without a Rebuild

Validate the package before capital moves. Push exceptions on the live record. When control changes hands, ANSI X9.110 should relocate the authoritative original so the next lender inherits a record, not a scavenger hunt. That is an intravault transfer of chattel: the original moves on the real time transfer network (RTTN); the selling desk keeps a watermarked copy.

Ask Before You Fund the Hull

  1. Is hull ID, mortgage, survey, and insurance on one authoritative package?
  2. Can custody move vault-to-vault without papering out the electronic original?
  3. Does the refinance buyer see the same control events your operations team already trusts?

Sources & references

  1. 46 U.S.C. Chapter 313 — Commercial Instruments and Maritime Liens (Ship Mortgages)Preferred ship mortgage framework intersecting with state vessel titling.
  2. UCC § 9-105 — Control of electronic chattel paperSafe-harbor elements for a unique, identifiable authoritative copy and assignee identity.
  3. ANSI X9.110 (TOLEC) — Transfer of Location of Electronic ContractsIndustry standard for vault-to-vault transfer of electronic contracts while preserving § 9-105 control.
  4. UCC § 9-102 — Definitions (chattel paper)Defines chattel paper and related Article 9 terms used in secured lending.
  5. Florida Statutes § 679.1051 — Control of electronic chattel paperState enactment of the § 9-105 control framework.

Write support@safeclose.co to review hull ID, mortgage evidence, and electronic-original custody on one package, vault control, and § 9-105.

Talk to our teamAll insights