International Registries in shipping and maritime law

In recent years, the traditional maritime countries have fought back in an endeavour
to repatriate tonnage lost to the open registries. The response of a number of the
traditional maritime nations has been, often in addition to tax and other financial
incentives made available to the shipping sector, to permit the temporary registration
of their vessels under the flags of foreign registries through bareboat charter
arrangements or to establish offshore or international registries, offering many of
the advantages to operators of the open registries, but nonetheless retaining a link
between beneficial ownership or management and the national flag.

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Freedom of States to Fix Conditions for Registration

Article 91 of UNCLOS provides: ‘1. Every State shall fix the conditions for the
grant of its nationality to ships, for the registration of ships in its territory, and for
the right to fly its flag.’

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Registration of ships in shipping, maritime law and law of the sea

Registration means the entering of a matter in the public records. Registration
is generally—but not always—not only a precondition for, but also the test of, a
vessel’s nationality. This is the public law function of registration, as opposed to its
private law function.

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