SHIP REGISTRATION
Registration of a ship plays an imperative function towards safety and security of the maritime transport and significantly contributes towards the protection and preservation of the marine environment.
The general mechanism for establishing a ship’s nationality and for regulating shipping is registration of the ship in a particular State. By linking a ship to a State, the system of ship registration indicates that that State has the right to protect that ship in international law.
A core principle in public international law is the freedom of the high seas, as laid out in article 87 of UNCLOS. To balance this freedom with the need to avoid disorder and misuse, international law has provided a framework for the regulation of shipping. This framework rests upon two core rules:
each 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 (article 91 of UNCLOS); and
the State must effectively exercise its jurisdiction and control in administrative, technical and social matters over ships flying its flag (article 94 of UNCLOS).
Article 91(1) of UNCLOS acknowledges the right of every State to “fix the conditions for the grant of nationality and for the right to fly its flag.” The same article provides that there “must exist a genuine link between the State and the ship.” The purpose of the “genuine link” requirement in UNCLOS is to secure more effective implementation of the duties of the flag State under article 94 of UNCLOS.
There is currently no binding international framework to regulate the registration process itself. The 1986 UN Convention on Conditions for Registration of Ships establishes international standards for the registration of vessels in a national registry, including references to the genuine link, ownership, management, registration, accountability and the role of the flag State. However, the Convention has not entered into force.
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