(a) Each shipping company must keep all original shipping articles and copies of all certificates of discharge for 3 years. After 3 years the shipping companies must prepare the original shipping articles in alphabetical order by vessel name and send to the address in § 14.103(a) for storage at the Federal Records Center at Suitland, Maryland. The company may dispose of the copies of certificates of discharge. The Coast Guard will dispose of copies of certificates submitted manually, once the data are entered into its sea-service database and are validated.

(b) Each shipping company that goes out of business or merges with another company must send all original articles to the address in § 14.103(a) within 30 days of the transaction.

(c) Articles sent for storage to the address in § 14.103(a) of this part that are not prepared in accordance with paragraph (a) of this section may be returned to the shipping company for correction.

(d) The shipping company must provide copies of shipping articles and certificates of discharge to the mariner and the Coast Guard upon request.