FCC licences and operator permits for your boat's radios

Radio · Power & sail

A recreational boat that stays in U.S. waters, is not required to carry a radio and does not talk to foreign stations is "licensed by rule" for VHF, AIS, EPIRB and radar: no FCC paperwork. Foreign ports, foreign contacts, HF/SSB and boats required to carry radio need a ship station licence (47 CFR 80.13).

Licensed by rule: no paperwork for most boats

• A ship station needs no individual FCC licence if no law or treaty requires it to carry radio, it does not travel to foreign ports, and it does not make international communications (47 CFR 80.13(c)).
• Such a boat may transmit with a marine VHF radio (156 to 162 MHz band), any type of AIS, any type of EPIRB and any type of radar (47 CFR 80.13(c); FCC).
• Licensed by rule still means following the FCC operating rules: calling procedures, keeping a watch, relaying distress messages (47 CFR 80.13(c); FCC).
• Sailing in international waters is fine, as long as you do not call at a foreign port or talk to foreign stations (FCC).

When you need a ship station licence

• A visit to a foreign port (the FCC lists Canada, Mexico, the Bahamas and the British Virgin Islands as examples) or radio contact with foreign stations requires a ship station licence (47 CFR 80.13(c); FCC).
• Any transmitter outside the licensed-by-rule list, such as an MF/HF single-sideband radio or a marine satellite terminal, needs a ship station licence (47 CFR 80.13(c); NavCen).
• A boat that the law requires to carry radio is a compulsory ship and must be licensed. For yachts this usually means a power-driven vessel of 20 meters (65.6 ft) or more, which the Bridge-to-Bridge Act covers (47 CFR 80.13(c); 33 CFR 26.03; FCC).
• Apply on FCC Form 605 in the Universal Licensing System. One licence covers all the transmitters aboard and normally runs ten years (47 CFR 80.13(b), 80.25; FCC).

Operator permits

• No operator licence is needed to use a VHF radio aboard a voluntarily equipped boat on a domestic voyage, or to operate an EPIRB (47 CFR 80.177(a)).
• A Restricted Radiotelephone Operator Permit is needed for HF sets (below 30 MHz), satellite ship earth stations, international voyages and compulsory ships. High-power HF sets need a higher-class permit (47 CFR 80.165; FCC).
• A boat subject to the Bridge-to-Bridge Act must have aboard an operator holding at least a Restricted Radiotelephone Operator Permit (47 CFR 80.163).
• The permit needs no exam and is normally valid for the holder's lifetime (47 CFR 13.15; FCC).

Buying or selling a boat

• When you sell, cancel your ship station licence or ask the FCC to assign it to the buyer on Form 603; otherwise the new owner applies for a new licence (FCC).
• If you hold an old licence for a domestic-only recreational boat, you need not renew it, but you may renew to keep the call sign (FCC).

The rules: 47 CFR 80.13 · 47 CFR 80.25 · 47 CFR 80.163 · 47 CFR 80.165 · 47 CFR 80.177 · 47 CFR 13.15 · 33 CFR 26.03

A plain-language summary of federal rules for recreational boats, checked against the rules’ own text and a second source, and written in our own words. It isn’t legal advice. States add rules of their own, and rules change — the links above go to the current official text.