Ship Registration

Table of Contents

Updated Legislation

The Merchant Shipping (Registration of Ships) Act 2014 updated the legislative basis for ship registration. The general scheme of the Mercantile Marine Act in relation to ship registration is preserved. There is a new centralized electronic national ship register known as the Irish Register of Ships.

The legislation extends mandatory ship registration to existing and some additional categories. It makes provision for ship registration renewal. It provides for refusal of ship registration and enhances mechanisms for compliance and removal of noncompliant ships from the register.

There is a provision for visitor registration for certain crafts. The ship registration, enforcement and penalty regime is updated.

A ship is defined to include every description of a vessel used in navigation not propelled exclusively by oars. It includes a personal watercraft and certain smaller, fast-powered craft.

Register of Ships

The legislation establishes the Irish Register of Ships. This includes the existing register if books maintained under Section 24 of the Mercantile Marine Act 1955.

The Minister shall prescribe the format of the register. Regulation specifies the types and particulars of ships to be registered in each part. The legislaiton specifies requirements standards and conditions for registration applicable to each part.

Registration is for an initial five-year period. It is subject to compliance with standards and prescribed by law deriving from international standards. After initial registration and subject to completion of renewal, a registration may be renewed for a further period of up to 10 years sequentially.

The Minister may make regulations in relation to searching the register and the conditions of access. The register may be kept in different formats including in particular electronic format so as to facilitate online searches.

The Department may enter written agreements with State agencies for the performance of functions relating to the administration of the register. Elements of ship administration may be outsourced in the future. Service agreements are to be entered.

Registerable Ships

Ships operating domestically including passenger, commercial and recreational craft greater than 24 m in length, all fishing boats including fishing boats under 15 m in length, personal watercrafts, smart powered craft and small boats carrying in them more than three passengers must be registered or have a current valid registration conferring nationality of another State.

Recreational craft less than 24 m in load line length, personal watercraft, small, fast, and powered craft (which are required to register), and warships are not required to register. State-owned ships other than warships must be registered.

The Minister may make regulations prescribing the categories and types of ships required to register on each part of the register when operating domestically. The Minister may make exemptions by regulation from the requirements to register.

Ships whose operations are controlled and directed from within the State must be registered, subject to the terms of ministerial regulation. Failure to register is an offence on part of the owner of the ship.

Criteria for Registration

The criteria for registration are to set out in more detail regulations are set out. There are conditions relating to the

qualifications of persons owning the ship,
previous and current safety, environment and security inspection history of the ship;
the type, age and size of the ship;
recognised organisation involved in the certification of the ship;
company performance of operators of the ship;
current flag state of the ship;
the trading pattern of the ship.

The Minister may prescribe that a ship or type of ship may only be entitled to be registered on the Register or a particular Part of the Register provided it meets the prescribed standards and conditions in relation to all or any of the following:

The Minister may make regulations to further regulate entitlement to register certain ships on the Register in order to comply with obligations to monitor Irish ships for compliance with relevant conventions or other legislation or for the purpose of the effective management of the Register having regard to the following:

the type, age and size of the ship;
the trading pattern of the ship;
the use of the ship, including the use of the ship in the commission of an offence;
circumstances where the owner of a ship has been convicted of Certain serious offences,

Ships must not be registered in another country. Regulations may vary that position and provide the conditions for ships electing to register.

The historical pattern set out in the Mercantile Marine Act of registering ships in 64 shares is maintained.

Qualified Owners

The Act lists ship owners who are entitled to register ships in the Irish Register of Ships.

Subject to any regulations made by the Minister, the following qualified persons are entitled as owners to register their ships on the Register:

the Government;
a Minister of the Government;
an Irish citizen;
a national of another Member State or an EEA state;
a body corporate established under and subject to the law of another Member State or an EEA state;
an Irish corporate body; and
a non-EEA state national residing in the State, except that such person may not register a fishing boat on the Register.

A person who is not qualified o register their ship as a sole owner of an Irish ship may nevertheless be entitled to register their ship if a majority interest (33 shares) in the ship is owned by qualified persons. Proof of identity as a qualified person is required prior to the registration of the ship. The Minister may make regulations setting out the criteria to be used to ascertain who is or is not a qualified person.

If a person is not a resident in the State or does not have a registered office, he may appoint a representative person who resides in the State.

Visitor Registration

There is provision for temporary registration of recreational craft under 24 m in load length line outside the State which becomes the property of qualified persons ordinarily resident in the State who wish to register the craft on a temporary basis, to navigate the craft from abroad to the State.

That is provision for registration in relation to personal watercraft, recreational craft 24 m in load line length and greater or small, fast, powered craft owned by persons visiting the State.

Visitor registration is to accommodate the craft being used in Irish waters for periods of up to three months where the crafts are not registered in another State. In normal course, they would otherwise be required to be registered on the full register or in other register in order to operate domestically.

Ship Names

There is a provision for approval of a ship name prior to registration. There is provision for registration of change of ship name before or after registration.

There is provision for marking of Irish ships including the name, port of registry and ship number.

Certificate of Registration

The owners and masters of foreign ships registered abroad and operating domestically must ensure that the certificate of registration and evidence of registration are carried on board at all times.

There is provision for issuing a certificate of registry of registered ships. The certificate of registry is the primary document proving nationality and ownership. There is provision for replacement and duplicate certificates. There is requirements in relation to carriage of the certificate of registry with the ship.

There are requirements for notification and delivery of the certificate of registry where the ship is lost or destroyed or the ship is transferred to persons who are no longer qualified or who are not qualified.

The ports set out in Schedule 3 of the legislation are ports of registry for ship registration purposes. Ports of registry may be transferred from one port in the State to another.

The Minister generally may prescribe the forms of instruments and documents required under the Act.

Irish Ships

The legislation defines ships, which may be known as the Irish ships. This does not include persons holding visitor registration only. The Minister may determine ships on the register of other categories or types that were not operating domestically and will not be known as Irish ships.

Irish ships are entitled to fly national colours and assume national character. National colours are the national flag. There is provision for authorisation of other flags in place or in addition to the national flag.

There are provisions for hoisting of the Irish flag on an Irish ship in specified circumstances. Only the national flag may be hoisted in an Irish ship but provision may be made for the flying of flag by way of courtesy in accordance with accepted international usage.

Offences

The legislation makes provision for offences. There is provision for liability of the owner and master in respect of certain offences. Offences in certain cases may be punished summarily on indictment.

There are a number of offences in relation to the use or misuse of the Irish national character of a ship. It is an offence to conceal the national character of a ship or falsely to assume a foreign character.

There are offences arising from false declarations and furnishing of false documents in connection with an application for ship registration.

Enforcement

Summary prosecutions may be initiated by the Minister. In the case of ship registration in relation to personal watercraft, small angling boats, local authority or inland fisheries, Ireland may prosecute. There is a provision for recovery of prosecutor costs. Generally, conviction leads to liability to a Class A fine.

There are provisions for the appointment of authorised persons to enforce the legislation. They include a ship surveyor, member of Revenue Commissioners, Garda Siochána, sea-fisheries protection officer, authorised officer of Inland Fisheries Ireland, Naval rank in the Permanent Defence Forces or officers of the Irish Coast Guard.

The powers of authorised persons are set out. There are powers to enforce provisions of the legislation including those relating to ship registration, certification of registry, identification of ship.

Authorised persons may exercise powers of detention. Surveyors may exercise powers of detention in relation to ships in a port or in an Irish waterway or in relation to an Irish ship in a foreign port where breaches of particular parts of the Act arise. There is a provision for an appeal process for the master or owner of a detained ship. The cost of detention is generally borne by the ship owner.

There is a system of fixed payments in lieu of prosecution for more minor offences e.g. in relation to registration of smaller crafts such as personal watercraft, small and fast powered craft, and small angling boats carrying no more than three persons. Fixed payments of 150 are provided for.

Proceedings may be brought by a local authority, inland fisheries or the Minister.

Ownership & Interests in Ship

Only a person who is the owner of a ship or has a share in a ship may be registered in the register. Only those persons may sell the ship or share in it in accordance with the Act.

Without prejudice to other provisions, interest arising under contracts or equitable interest may be enforced by or against owners or mortgagees of the ship in respect of their interest in the same manner as any other personal property.

The Minister may make regulations for the exclusion of certain ships from the application of private law provisions for registered ships under the Act.

Transfer of Registration

A registered ship or share in ship is transferred to another person by legislation of sale which must be in an approval form. There are requirements in relation to declarations of transfer in order to allow transferee to be registered as owner of ship on the register.

There are provisions which apply to registered ships on death, bankruptcy or other means of transfer other than executed transfer.

Where a property passes by death, bankruptcy or otherwise to a person not qualified, a special provision is made. There is provision for a court-ordered sale of a ship or a share in a ship. The High Court may prohibit dealings in ships or an interest in ships for on such periods and on such terms as it determine.

Mortgaged of Ship

There is provision for registers of mortgages of the registered ships. The Mortgage details must be noted in that register. There is provision for notification to the Minister of proposed ship mortgages by the intending mortgagee by way of a priority notice.

There are provisions relating to the sale by a registered mortgagee of a ship or an interest in the ship.

The registered mortgagee of the ship is not affected by the bankruptcy of the mortgagor after registration.

There is provision for transfer of registered mortgages both generally and in the case of death, bankruptcy etc. of the mortgagee. There is provision for recording discharge of a registered mortgage. There is provision for removal of a discharge of a mortgage in the register.