Registration of ships in Marshall Islands

Registration of ships in Marshall Islands

The Marshall Islands, apart from being a popular offshore jurisdiction for company registrations, is also well known for its developed ship registration services. After the World War II Marshall Islands were placed under the custody of the United States, and only in 1986 the Republic of the Marshall Islands became independent. In 1991, the state became a member of the United Nations and established diplomatic relations with the industry and the maritime powers. The program for the registration of ships was adopted by the Government of the Marshall Islands in 1988. The State is currently ranked fifth in the world by the number of ships registered in the offshore jurisdiction. There is a rapid development of ship registry: only from 1994 to 1995 the number of vessels increased by 50 %.

Marshall Islands are very often used as a place for registration of vessels and private yachts due to the relative cheapness of the process and the developed services register. Note that according to the 2010 in the register of this island nation, there were almost 1600 only of merchant ships registered from all over the world!

It is possible to register marine vessels of any tonnage, but not older than 20 years. Registration of older ships needs to be confirmed by the Classification Society and to be given official consent. Registration of a vessel may only be carried out by a local company or a foreign company registered in the Marshall Islands. Fishing vessels are registered very rarely.

Requirements for Registration of Ships in Marshall Islands:

• The following vessel may be registered in the Marshall Islands: tankers, cargo and passenger ships, container ships, tugs, offshore rigs, fishing and other ocean-going vessels.
• A vessel must not be older than 20 years. In case of a satisfactory assessment of the vessel, this requirement may be waived.
• Owner must be a citizen or company of Marshall Islands, common or limited partnership, foreign marine company that qualifies for the area

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Registration of ships in Marshall Islands

Related page: Marshall Islands company formation