"Research Vessel" status?

[Richfind]

My previous comments referred to a US registered vessel.

Do a web search for University National Oceanographic Laboratory System, they may be able to help you.

UNOLS.ORG

[SouthernPride]

If you donate "boat usage" with you as the captain always on board you can deduct all of those donations...time, wear and tear, NM cost, fuel cost, equipment upgrades, etc... You can have them pay for the fuel and offer a college the boat for time. For instance Stockton College in New Jersey is/was the second highest rated bio program among all colleges, behind Miami Their lab is the Chesapeake Bay. See 2,3,4, of their kid's can spend a week on the boat with an instructor towards college credit. The chance to spend a week on a boat learning the in's and out's of the bay from an environmental perspective for credit will be quite appealing...
Good luck

[Richfind]

Originally Posted by SouthernPride

If you donate "boat usage" with you as the captain always on board you can deduct all of those donations...time, wear and tear, NM cost, fuel cost, equipment upgrades, etc... You can have them pay for the fuel and offer a college the boat for time. For instance Stockton College in New Jersey is/was the second highest rated bio program among all colleges, behind Miami Their lab is the Chesapeake Bay. See 2,3,4, of their kid's can spend a week on the boat with an instructor towards college credit. The chance to spend a week on a boat learning the in's and out's of the bay from an environmental perspective for credit will be quite appealing...
Good luck

Be very careful doing this. You can easily drift into vessel for hire. However since apparently your vessel isn't registered in the US. Local laws will apply. Not sure what country you are a citizen of.

On the tax issue: I know of several bonified oceanographic research facuty that ran afoul of the IRS with this plan. It went fine for several years until the IRS caught up with one of them. The IRS then connected them together through the same accountant and audited all of them, it did not go well.

[Richfind]

Research Vessels are defined in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFRs).

https://www.archives.gov/federal-reg...-title-46.html

Also the aforementioned UNOLS safety standards can be found here:

https://www.unols.org/sites/default/...0_July2015.pdf

[gamayun]

Originally Posted by Richfind

Research Vessels are defined in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFRs).

https://www.archives.gov/federal-reg...-title-46.html

This is one of the definitions in those regs so the part that says, "employed exclusively" is likely to eliminate citizen science efforts on a recreational vessel.

§ 3.05-3 Oceanographic research vessel.

“An oceanographic research vessel is a vessel which the U.S. Coast Guard finds is employed exclusively in one or more of the following:

(a)*Oceanographic instruction;

(b)*Limnologic instruction;

(c)*Oceanographic research; or,

(d)*Limnologic research.”

[Wayfarer1008]

I've done quite a bit of Marine Geophysics and are vessels were all marked as research vessels in big letters to let other boats, harbor security and commercial ships that were a commercial craft vs. a recreational or charter boat in the commercial business of collecting marine data. plain and simple. It did not give us any special rights but it did allow us "After informing Harbor security" to work in areas that would be off limits to the average recreational boater.