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Registration

Home Registration
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Ship Registration

Quotations for initial registration (termed as provisional registration) can be obtained from the Principal Registrar or any of the Regional Registrars. The Registrars based in the London registry will then undertake the provisional registration of the vessel, which allows a six-month period for all requirements for permanent registration to be met and the permanent certificate of registry to be issued.

All registration documents are issued digitally from our London Registry who work closely with our Regional Registrars to ensure vessel registration is handled as quickly and smoothly as possible. Provided all necessary documents have been submitted, our team can issue registration for a vessel in a matter of hours.Once provisionally registered, the ship must undergo an initial inspection, and annually thereafter, to ensure international standards are met.

Yacht Registration

Requirements for initial (provisional) registration of yachts differ according to the category into which the yacht falls. Many of the regulations that apply to ships would apply to Charter Yachts and there are check-lists available for each of the categories we accept.
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Registration of a Ship’s Mortgage

Mortgages

A provisionally registered ship has all the privileges and entitlements of a Barbados permanently registered ship.  This allows for a loan or other valuable consideration to be recorded in the form of a mortgage over a provisionally registered ship or its shares, provided that the original mortgage document is forwarded to the London Registrar or the Principal Registrar.  The Registrar accepting the mortgage for recording purposes shall note on each mortgage document the fact that the mortgage was recorded, stating the date and time of the recording.  Mortgage documents are annotated with a letter between A-Z, the ‘A’ denoting a first-priority mortgage, and priority of subsequent mortgages will depend on the letter assigned to the document by the Registrar.

The mortgagee has the absolute right of sale to dispose of the ship or share if within 30 days of the expiration of the provisional certificate the ship has not fully complied with the requirements of registration, notwithstanding that the mortgagor did comply fully with other requirements of the mortgage instrument.

For assistance with completion of registration forms, please go to the Forms section of this website and look at the samples of completed forms.  There are also a number of Check-lists to assist Clients with requirements for registration.

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Bareboat Charters Registration

The Barbados Merchant Shipping Act (CAP 296) allows any vessel registered in Barbados to be dual registered under a bareboat charter out agreement to a Secondary Registry (flag), whilst also maintaining Barbadian registration, or any vessel registered on Primary Registry (flag) to be dual registered under a bareboat charter in agreement to with the Barbados flag (Secondary Registry), whilst also maintaining registration with the Primary Registry.

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Registry Alterations

To request an alteration to the registered details of a Barbadian vessel, please click here to access the relevant checklists of documents which must be submitted to the Registry.

Registration Fees

Our rate card provides detailed information on our registry fees, or contact our team for a detailed quote for your vessel.

Stay Connected

    Nautical Inspectors

    A network of Nautical Inspectors is available to carry out annual ship safety inspections and to assist ship operators whenever required.  The list of Inspectors may be accessed here:

    Nautical Inspectors

    Shipping Legislation

    Barbados has been a member of IMO since 1971, and has ratified many of the international Conventions that have been instrumental in shaping the world’s shipping legislation.

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    Bulletins

    We provide regular bulletins to keep our clients and associates abreast of new developments, and work closely with all our ship owners and managers to help maintain a quality fleet.

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    Recognised Organisations

    Ten Classification Societies that are members of IACS (International Association of Classification Societies), as well as several other recognised organisations, have been appointed to survey and issue statutory certificates on our behalf.

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