46 U.S.C. § 12503 — Information available to the system

(a) Unless (b) or (c) say otherwise, a State — or a delegate the Secretary of Transportation approves — can share vessel information with the Secretary, if the State follows the Secretary's required format and: (1) identifies the vessel; (2) identifies the owner, using the owner's Social Security number or another method the Secretary accepts, and, if the owner is not an individual, using its taxpayer ID number, or, if it has none, the Social Security number of an officer, general partner, or trustee who signed the vessel's paperwork; (3) says which State the vessel is titled or numbered in; (4) says whether the vessel is numbered, titled, or both; (5) if the vessel is titled in a State, says where records of any lien or other security interest against the vessel can be found; (6) includes information to help law enforcement; and (7) includes any other information the State and the Secretary agree on. (b) Except as (c) requires, the Secretary may also accept information under conditions, and in a form, that the Secretary sets. (c) The Secretary must: (1) keep information on a vessel that has a "preferred mortgage" (a special kind of lien, under section 31322(d)) even after the vessel is no longer titled in a State that shares information, until the mortgage is paid off or the vessel is sold; and (2) accept the kind of information described in a different law, section 31321(h), only when that information cannot be given to a State instead.