Ohio Revised Code Title XLV. Motor Vehicles Aeronautics Watercraft § 4585.03

A person who has a lien under section 4585.01 of the Revised Code may proceed against the owner of the watercraft, the master who contracted a debt, or the watercraft itself. The person may file a complaint as in a civil action in the appropriate municipal or county court or court of common pleas, against the watercraft by name, or if it does not have a name, by a pertinent and substantial description of it.

Upon the filing of a complaint against a watercraft itself, the plaintiff shall give or send a written notice of the action to, or cause the service of a copy of the complaint upon, the owner of the watercraft and any person who has a security interest in the watercraft that is superior to the lien under division (B) of section 4585.01 of the Revised Code. A written notice or copies of the complaint shall be given, sent, or served upon the owner and any such secured parties in a manner prescribed in the Rules of Civil Procedure for the service of process on defendants in civil actions.