Regulations On The Latest Ship Registration Procedure

A ship is one of the assets need to be registered ownership in accordance with the law. Registration of ship ownership has not been provided in a separate section, but been included in the section of ship registration. The ship registration means the record and storage of information about a ship in the National Register of Ships of Vietnam and issuance of a Certificate of registration of Vietnamese ships in accordance with the 2015 Maritime Code and Decree No. 86/2020/ND-CP dated 15 September 2020 of the Government providing amendments to Government’s Decree No. 171/2016/ND-CP dated 27 December 2016 on registration, deregistration, sale and purchase, and building of ships which takes effect as of the same date of issuance.

1. Ship registration forms under the latest ship registration procedures:

• Indefinite registration of ship;
• Definite registration of ship;
• Registration of information change;
• Temporary registration of ship;
• Registration of ship under construction;
• Registration of small-sized ship.

2. Types of ships must be registered in accordance with the law on the latest ship registration procedures

 Under the provisions of the law on the latest ship registration procedures, not all types of ships are required to be registered. The registration of ships in the National Register of Ships of Vietnam applies only to the following types of ships:

• Engine-powered ship that has the capacity of main engine of more than 75 kilowatt (KW);
• Ship without engine which has the total capacity of more than 50 GT, or gross tonnage of more than 100 tonnes, or has the design waterline length of more than 20 meters (m);
• Ships which have smaller sizes than those stipulated, but operate on international navigation routes, including a motor ship with the main engine power of less than 75kW or a non-motor ship with a gross tonnage of less than 50GT or a dead weight of less than 100 tonnes or a design waterline length of less than 20 meters.

3. Conditions for registration of Vietnamese ships in accordance with the law on the latest ship registration procedures

Under the provisions of the law on the latest ship registration procedures, a ship must meet the following requirements upon registration:

• Legitimate written proof of ownership of a sea vessel;
• Certification of capacity and certification of ship classification;
• Ship’s private name. The ship’s private name shall be approved by the Vietnam ship registrar in accordance with the legal procedure for requesting approval of naming a ship.
• Certification of temporary suspension or removal of registration, which is applicable to ships that have been registered abroad except for temporary registration.
• Ship owner’s business office, branch or representative office located within the territory of Vietnam;
• With respect to the initial registration or reregistration of a foreign second-hand ship in Vietnam, its age must be corresponding to the Government’s stipulated age of specific ships.
• All statutory fees or charges have been paid.
• A foreign seagoing vessel that is leased by a Vietnamese organization or individual in the form of bareboat charter or charter-purchase when registering to fly the Vietnamese flag, in addition to the conditions specified above, must have a bareboat charter contract or ship hire-purchase contract.

4. Each form of ship registration has its own regulations, and requirements for documentation and documentation will also be different. In general, however, these forms of registration under the latest ship registration procedures are carried out as follows:

• Step 1: Organization or individual owning a ship prepares a ship registration dossier depending on the form of registration.
• Step 2: The organization or individual submits the application directly or by post to the registry of ships or by other suitable means.
• Step 3: The registry of ships will receive the application.

1. With respect of applications received by hand, the registrar of ship shall provide instructions to the applicant to complete the application if it is invalid or record in the monitoring book and grant a receipt of application giving an appointment for returning the application processing result within the prescribed period;
2. With respect of applications received by post, the registrar of ship shall, within 02 working days as of the receipt of the invalid application, provide instructions to the applicant to complete that application in conformity with regulations herein.

• Step 4: Organizations and individuals pay a fee for ship registration in accordance with regulations of the Ministry of Finance.
• Step 5: the registrar of ship shall grant the Certificate of periodical registry and directly or by post send it to the applicant. If the application is refused, a written response indicating reasons thereof shall be given to the applicant.

Above is article related to regulations on the latest ship registration procedure. Phuoc & Partners is a professional consulting firm established in Vietnam and currently has nearly 100 members working in three offices in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Danang. Phuoc & Partners is also rated as one of the leading consulting firms specializing in business law in Vietnam that has leading practice areas in the legal market such as Labour and Employment, Taxation, Merger and acquisition, Litigation. We are confident in providing customers with optimal and effective civil litigation service.