REGISTRATION
THE BAHAMAS MARITIME AUTHORITY The Bahamas is one of the world’s top 10 ship registries, with a reputation for quality and excellent service. It is also an incredibly popular destination for owners and their yachts. The Bahamas Maritime Authority welcomes any yacht, no matter its specific design features, and is able to create a bespoke registration experience. It has a worldwide network of offices and Consulates – all dedicated to providing expert advice to their valued customers on a wide range of matters, 24 hours a day. The BMA has a deep commitment to quality, compliance and continuous improvement and embraces all shipowners who share the same ethos. For more details Tel: +44 20 7562 1300 or visit
www.bahamasmaritime.com
location of the Cayman Islands has played an important role in the Islands’ development as a
highly competitive tourism and
international financial centre. Its capital, George Town, has been a British registry port since 1904 following the passing of the British Merchant Shipping Act in 1894. In those days the register comprised of a few wooden sailing schooners, most often locally built. Today the registry claims to dominate the superyacht flagged market.
At the end of 2018, they had a total of 2,215 vessels on their register – 1,897 pleasure craft and 318 commercial vessels in a fleet that had grown 8.5% in 12 months to a total of 5.6 million gross tonnes. Of the superyachts over 30 metres in build during 2018, 45% of those, roughly 150 in total, were under CISR supervision.
Without doubt they are the most commercially aware of the red flag registries and captains joke that they even charge a fee if you want to sneeze on your own bridge. When I was a superyacht Master, I found them to be consistently the most inconsistent of registries and I quickly learned that if you did not like the opinion or decision of one surveyor you asked another and another until you got the answer you wanted to hear.
A YACHT ARRIVING FLYING THE UNDEFACED RED ENSIGN IS VIEWED AS A HIGH STANDARD OF SAFETY
international acceptance as an equivalence to the International Conventions that of SOLAS, MARPOL and STCW.
Adam Jackson is the head of MCA’s Large Yacht Services and he maintains that for yachts choosing to flag in the UK, there are many benefits. “The main benefit,” he says, “is its international respect as a maritime authority.” He adds, “A yacht arriving in almost any port in the world flying the undefaced Red Ensign is viewed as a high standard of safety, respectability, and trustworthiness.” Jackson believes the UK flag to be perhaps the most ethical of flags and cites, as an example, their crew repatriation efforts during the recent
Covid pandemic. He said, “Where other Flag States have, on occasion, abandoned their responsibilities, the UK has stepped up and supported our seafarers regardless of the flag of ship they are on. As a Flag State, we do things right.”
The MCA does not delegate Large Yacht Code surveys and supplies their own specialist MCA yacht surveyor to attend annually for survey. Those surveyors spend time providing guidance, support and clarification where needed.
CAYMAN ISLANDS Situated in the western Caribbean, about 480 miles south of Miami, Florida, the
JERSEY Neither Bermuda, Guernsey or Gibraltar seem to actively tout for superyacht business but at the smaller end of the market, Jersey has a case to offer and a drum to beat. A category two registry, it can register Large Yacht Code and 13-36 Passenger Yacht Code compliant yachts up to 400 gt. The island is attractive to yacht owners because it sits outside the UK and EU.
This means it can offer VAT-free Temporary Importation into EU to yachts owned by non-EU residents. The added fact that Social Security insurance exemptions are available to non-resident crews and for company-owned vessels, no corporation or tonnage tax is charged, make this flag all the more attractive.
Unlike the UK, which offers a 5 year registration period, Jersey offers 10 without charging an annual fee. The fee is currently £480 and included an online Provisional Certificate prior to full registration, to enable the vessel to sail if required before all the other papers are submitted for full registration. After 10 years there is a renewal fee of £100 for a further 10 year registration.
ONBOARD | AUTUMN 2020 | 63
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