The Merchant Shipping (Registration of Ships) Regulations 1993

PART III U.K. QUALIFICATION AND ENTITLEMENT FOR REGISTRATION ON PART I OF THE REGISTER

Persons qualified to be owners of ships to be registered on Part I of the Register U.K.

7.—(1) The following persons are qualified to be the owners of ships which are to be registered on Part I of the Register:—

[F1 (a) (i) British citizens; or

(ii) non-United Kingdom nationals exercising their right of freedom of movement of workers or right of establishment;]

(b) British Dependent Territories citizens;

(c) British Overseas citizens;

(d) persons who under the British Nationality Act 1981(1) are British subjects:

(e) persons who under the Hong kong (British Nationality) Order 1986(2) are British Nationals (Overseas);

[F2 (ea) Commonwealth citizens;

(eb) citizens of a country listed in Schedule 6;

(ec) non-United Kingdom nationals who are settled in the United Kingdom;

(ed) bodies corporate incorporated in a Commonwealth state;

(ee) bodies corporate incorporated in a country listed in Schedule 6;]

(f) bodies corporate incorporated [F3 in the United Kingdom or in an EEA State] ;

(g) bodies corporate incorporated in any relevant British possession F4 ...; and

[F5 (h) UK Economic Interest Groupings.]

(2) A person who is not qualified under paragraph (1) to be the owner [F6 of a ship registered on Part I of the Register] may nevertheless be one of the owners of such a ship if:

(a) a majority interest in the ship (within the meaning of regulation 8) is owned by persons who are [F7 so qualified under paragraph (1)], and

(b) the ship is registered on Part I of the Register.

Textual Amendments

F1 Reg. 7(1)(a) substituted (1.1.1999) by The Merchant Shipping (Registration of Ships) (Amendment) Regulations 1998 (S.I. 1998/2976), regs. 1, 4(a)

F2 Reg. 7(1)(ea)-(ee) inserted (29.3.2019) by The Merchant Shipping (Registration of Ships) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/509), regs. 1(2), 5(a)

F3 Words in reg. 7(1)(f) substituted (31.12.2020) by The Merchant Shipping (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Amendments etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018 (S.I. 2018/1221), reg. 2(b), Sch. para. 1(3); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)

F4 Words in reg. 7(1)(g) omitted (29.3.2019) by virtue of The Merchant Shipping (Registration of Ships) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/509), regs. 1(2), 5(b)

F5 Reg. 7(1)(h) substituted (31.12.2020) by The European Economic Interest Grouping (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018 (S.I. 2018/1299), regs. 1, 63(a); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)

F6 Words in reg. 7(2) substituted (21.3.1994) by The Merchant Shipping (Registration of Ships) (Amendment) Regulations 1994 (S.I. 1994/541), regs. 1, 3(a)

F7 Words in reg. 7(2)(a) substituted (21.3.1994) by The Merchant Shipping (Registration of Ships) (Amendment) Regulations 1994 (S.I. 1994/541), regs. 1, 3(b)

Commencement Information

I1 Reg. 7 in force at 21.3.1994, see reg. 1(1)

British connection and majority interest U.K.

8.—(1) Subject to [F8 the relevant provisions of the sanctions regulations,] regulation 36(4) (Refusal of registration) and paragraphs (2), [F9 (3), (4) and (5)] below a ship shall be entitled to be registered if a majority interest in the ship is owned by one or more persons qualified [F10 under regulation 7(1)].

(2) [F11 Where a majority interest in a ship is owned by] a person or persons qualified by reason of [F12 regulation 7(1), other than sub-paragraphs (c), (d) or (g)], the ship shall, subject to paragraphs (3) and (4) below, be registered only if that person or (as the case may be) any of those persons is resident in the United Kingdom.

(3) Where the condition in paragraph (2) is not satisfied the ship shall be registered only if a representative person is appointed in relation to the ship under Part V.

(4) [F13 Where] the majority interest is owned by persons one or more of whom are persons who are qualified by reason of:—

(a) regulation 7(1)(c) or (d), the ship shall be registered only if:—

(i) that person, or (as the case may be) any of those persons, is resident in the United Kingdom, or

(ii) where that condition is not satisfied, the Secretary of State furnishes a declaration that he consents to the ship being registered, and, in addition, a representative person is appointed in relation to the ship;

(b) regulation 7(1)(g), the ship shall be registered only if:—

(i) the body corporate has a place of business in the United Kingdom, or

(ii) where that condition is not satisfied, if a representative person is appointed in relation to the ship.

(5) [F14 Where] the majority interest is owned by the following persons:—

(a) one or more persons who are qualified by reason of [F15 regulation 7(1), other than sub-paragraphs (c), (d) or (g)], and

(b) one or more persons qualified by reason of regulation 7(1)(c) or (d), or

(c) one or more persons qualified by reason of regulation 7(1)(g),

[F16 the ship shall only be] registered—

(i) if any of those persons is resident in the United Kingdom, or

(ii) (where that condition is not satisfied) if a representative person is appointed in relation to the ship.

Textual Amendments

F8 Words in reg. 8(1) inserted (31.12.2020) by The Merchant Shipping (Registration of Ships) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/509), regs. 1(3), 6(a); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)

F9 Words in reg. 8(1) substituted (21.3.1994) by The Merchant Shipping (Registration of Ships) (Amendment) Regulations 1994 (S.I. 1994/541), regs. 1, 4(a)(i)

F10 Words in reg. 8(1) substituted (21.3.1994) by The Merchant Shipping (Registration of Ships) (Amendment) Regulations 1994 (S.I. 1994/541), regs. 1, 4(a)(ii)

F11 Words in reg. 8(2) substituted (21.3.1994) by The Merchant Shipping (Registration of Ships) (Amendment) Regulations 1994 (S.I. 1994/541), regs. 1, 4(b)

F12 Words in reg. 8(2) substituted (29.3.2019) by The Merchant Shipping (Registration of Ships) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/509), regs. 1(2), 6(b)

F13 Word in reg. 8(4) substituted (21.3.1994) by The Merchant Shipping (Registration of Ships) (Amendment) Regulations 1994 (S.I. 1994/541), regs. 1, 4(c)

F14 Word in reg. 8(5) substituted (21.3.1994) by The Merchant Shipping (Registration of Ships) (Amendment) Regulations 1994 (S.I. 1994/541), regs. 1, 4(d)(i)

F15 Words in reg. 8(5)(a) substituted (29.3.2019) by The Merchant Shipping (Registration of Ships) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/509), regs. 1(2), 6(c)

F16 Words in reg. 8(5) substituted (21.3.1994) by The Merchant Shipping (Registration of Ships) (Amendment) Regulations 1994 (S.I. 1994/541), regs. 1, 4(d)(ii)

Commencement Information

I2 Reg. 8 in force at 21.3.1994, see reg. 1(1)

9.  For the purposes of regulation 8:— U.K.

(a) one or more persons shall be treated as owning a majority interest in a ship if there is vested in that person or in those persons, taken together, the legal title to 33 or more shares in the ship (there being left out of account for this purpose any share in which any beneficial interest is owned by a person who is not entitled to be an owner of a British ship); and

(b) a body coporate shall be treated as resident in the United Kingdom if F17 ... it has a place of business in the United Kingdom.

Textual Amendments

F17 Words in reg. 9(b) omitted (29.3.2019) by virtue of The Merchant Shipping (Registration of Ships) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/509), regs. 1(2), 7

Commencement Information

I3 Reg. 9 in force at 21.3.1994, see reg. 1(1)

Government ships U.K.

10.  Nothing in this Part applies to a ship to which section 80 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1906(3) applies (Government ships).

Commencement Information

I4 Reg. 10 in force at 21.3.1994, see reg. 1(1)

Fishing vessels excluded from Part I U.K.

11.  A fishing vessel may not be registered on Part I of the Register.

Commencement Information

I5 Reg. 11 in force at 21.3.1994, see reg. 1(1)

(1)

1981 c. 61.

(2)

S.I. 1986/948.

(3)

1906 c. 48.