Overview
Vessel screening allows you to check vessels against global sanctions lists directly in Legl. This is designed for law firms involved in maritime or shipping activities that need to screen vessels as regulated subjects, not just the individuals and businesses behind them.
The process follows a similar pattern to business sanctions screening: you create a vessel record, run a screening, review any potential matches, and record your decisions with a full audit trail.
Before you start
Before running a vessel screening, make sure you have the vessel details you want to screen (such as name, IMO number, or flag state).
You will see a Vessels link in the left-hand navigation in Legl.
How to run a vessel sanctions screening
Navigate to Engage and select Vessels from the left-hand navigation.
Select Add vessel and enter the relevant vessel details.
Submit the vessel record. Legl will run a sanctions check against global sanctions lists using data from ComplyAdvantage.
Once the screening is complete, open the vessel to view the results.
How to review screening results
If the screening returns potential matches (hits), you need to review each one and record your decision.
Click into the vessel to view its screening results.
Open each individual hit to see the sanctions details.
For each hit, confirm whether the match relates to your vessel by selecting Yes or No.
Add comments to explain your reasoning where needed. These are recorded in the audit trail.
If needed, change the assigned reviewer before submitting.
Once all hits have been reviewed, submit the review to finalise your decisions.
What happens next
Once submitted, the screening moves to a read-only state. All decisions, comments, and reviewer details are recorded for audit purposes.
A PDF of the completed screening is available to download at any point after submission.
You can return to the Vessels page at any time to view previous screenings and their results.
How to associate a vessel with a business or individual
You can link a vessel to a related business or individual, such as its owner or operator. Once linked, the association is visible from both records.
From a sanctions hit
Open a vessel sanctions hit that includes owner or operator details from the watchlist provider.
If this data is available, the hit detail shows a Potential owner businesses section.
Select Search business next to the relevant potential owner. This pre-fills a business search using the owner's details, with the country set to International (the vessel data doesn't specify one).
Choose the matching business if one is found, or create a new one, then confirm the link and select whether the business is the vessel's Owner or Operator.
From the vessel's Associated contacts tab
Open the vessel and go to the Associated contacts tab.
Select Add association.
Search for and select the business or individual you want to link to the vessel.
From an existing association you can select View business, Watchlist screening, or Engage request, or remove the association the same way as any other contact link.
Important information
Vessel screening is a point-in-time check. Ongoing monitoring (automatic re-screening and alerts when a vessel's sanctions status changes) is not currently supported.
Sanctions data for vessel screening is provided by ComplyAdvantage.
The review workflow for vessels follows the same process as business sanctions screening, including comments, audit trail, and PDF download.
Potential owner businesses only appear on a hit when this data is available from ComplyAdvantage. It will not always be present.
Associating or removing a link between a vessel and a business or individual is recorded on the vessel's activity log.