46 CFR § 67.203 - Restrictions on filing and recording.
(a) No instrument will be accepted for filing unless the vessel to which it pertains is the subject of:
(1) A valid Certificate of Documentation; or
(2) An application for initial documentation, exchange of Certificate of Documentation, return to documentation, or for deletion from documentation, which is in substantial compliance with the applicable regulations, submitted to the National Vessel Documentation Center.
(b) An instrument identified as eligible for filing and recording under § 67.200 may not be filed and recorded if it bears a material alteration.
(c) An instrument identified as eligible for filing and recording under § 67.200 (a) or (b) may not be filed and recorded if any vendee or transferee under the instrument is not a citizen of the United States as defined in section 2 of the Shipping Act, 1916, (46 U.S.C. app. 802) unless the Maritime Administration has consented to the grant to a non-citizen made under the instrument.
(d) The restriction imposed by paragraph (c) of this section does not apply to a bill of sale or deed of gift conveying an interest in a vessel which was neither documented nor last documented pursuant to these regulations or any predecessor regulations thereto at the time the instrument was executed, nor to an instrument conveying an interest in a vessel identified in § 67.11(b).