ATTENTION BOAT OWNERS - Notice to all who have a U.S. Coast Guard documented vessel. The cost to renew you vessel documentation is $26.  Don't get fooled.  There is a third party vessel documentation service (U.S. Vessel Documentation, Inc.) that is masquerading as an official arm of the U.S. Coast Guard vessel documentation center (NVDC). They use the term "private firm" to suggest that the NVDC has outsourced documentation to them. They will charge you $75 to renew a document that actually only costs $26 to renew.

The proper URL for the NVDC is:  www.uscg.mil/nvdc

You will also see the official United State Coast Guard Logo on the page:

U.S. Vessel Documentation, Inc. starts their deception by sending you an official-looking notice that your document needs to be renewed, and then directs you to their website for renewal. Their email address is uscgdocumentation.us, and their website address is https://uscgdocumentation.us/.  Note the deceptive use of "uscg" in both addresses. The website is full of official-looking links and information. You must scroll through all of this information to reach the very bottom of the page where you will find the following notice in grayed-out font: "Copyright 2017 U.S. VESSEL DOCUMENTATION | All Rights Reserved. U.S. Vessel Documentation is NOT the U.S. Coast Guard or the National Vessel Documentation Center; we are a third party agency that handles USCG Documentation processing to NVDC."  Go to their website and check it out for yourself.  Although they are a legitimate service, they will charge a $49 fee to renew a $26 document.

Note the difference in the U.S. Vessel Documentation, Inc. Logo:

While U.S. Vessel Documentation, Inc. does provide vessel documentation services and renewals, you can avoid paying the extra $49 fee by going directly to the NVDC website at: www.uscg.mil/nvdc