Ship registration

Ship registration is the process by which a ship is documented and authorised by some country; it is usual to say that the ship sails under the flag of the country of registration (the registration, not the actual cloth flag, is the essential issue). International law requires that every merchant ship be registered in a country, called its flag state. A ship's flag state exercises regulatory control over the vessel and is required to inspect it regularly, certify the ship's equipment and crew, and issue safety and pollution prevention documents. The organization which actually registers the ship is known as its registry. Registries may be governmental or private agencies. In some cases, such as the United States' Alternative Compliance Program, the registry can assign a third party to administer inspections. A registry that is open only to ships of its own nation is known as a traditional or national registry. Registries that are open to foreign-owned ships are known as open registries, and some of these are classified as flags of convenience.

The principle that there be a "genuine link" between a ship's owners and its flag state dates back to 1958, when Article 5(1) of the Geneva Convention on the High Seas also required that "the state must effectively exercise its jurisdiction and control in administrative, technical and social matters over ships flying its flag." The principle was repeated in Article 91 of the 1982 treaty called the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and often referred to as UNCLOS. In 1986, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development attempted to solidify the genuine link concept in the United Nations Convention for Registration of Ships. The Convention for Registration of Ships would require that a flag state be linked to its ships either by having an economic stake in the ownership of its ships or by providing mariners to crew the ships. To come into force, the 1986 treaty requires 40 signatories whose combined tonnage exceeds 25% of the world total. To date, only 14 countries have signed the treaty.

National or closed registries typically require that a ship be owned and constructed by national interests, and at least partially crewed by its citizens. Open registries do not have such requirements; some offer on-line registration, sometimes guaranteeing completion in less than a day.

Ships operated illegally, such as by pirates, or narco submarines, are not normally registered by the operators (although a registered ship may be captured or used covertly for illegal purposes).

See also

• List of flags of convenience

References

• D'Andrea, Ariella (2006). The "Genuine Link" Concept in Responsible Fisheries (PDF). FAO Legal Papers Online. Vol. 61. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization. Retrieved 2010-06-30. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |laydate=, |separator=, |trans_chapter=, |chapterurl=, |laysummary=, and |lastauthoramp= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
• International Confederation of Free Trade Unions; Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD; International Transport Workers’ Federation; Greenpeace International (2002). More Troubled Waters: Fishing, Pollution, and FOCs. Johannesburg: 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development. Retrieved 2010-06-12.
• Neff, Robert (2007-04-20). "Flags That Hide the Dirty Truth". Asia Times. Asia Times Online. Retrieved 2010-06-12.