Most people and lawyers do not know that a boat can be arrested by the US Marshal Service and held until the vessel owner posts a bond with the court in the full amount of the injured person’s damages or the boat owner could provide the court with a cash bond in the full amount of the potential claim. If you provide any type of necessity to a boat, you have a lien against that boat and you can have the US Marshal arrest that boat by going through the Federal Court System because you have provided a necessary to the vessel. This means that what you have provided was necessary to keep the boat operational. Many goods and services provided to a boat can be the basis of a lien against that boat. Certaintly any type of work done to a boat creates a maritime lien. Any type of supplies provided to the boat creates a maritime lien. If the boat owner is negligent in causing damages to property such as a dock or to individuals on your boat or there is damages to individuals on another boat, you have a maritime lien.
If you work on a boat and are not paid your wages, you have a maritime lien for the nonpayment of wages. There are many things that create a lien against a boat. That lien will stay with the boat regardless of the owner of the boat. The boat will act as collateral for the amount of your damages and no boat owner wants to have an outstanding maritime lien on their boat so he will usually come to the table to settle the case to get the lien resolved. Maritime liens are complicated and you should consult Boyd Law, PA to determine if you have a maritime lien against a boat and how to best prosecute that lien to turn it into money.