Provisional Yacht Registration

The provisional registration is a temporary registration with an expire date. Such temporary registrations are very often used by ship yards or brokers to deliver yachts. At final destination, the yacht owner then decides where to register the vessel.

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Conclusion

Provisional yacht registration is a convenient way of registering a yacht for a limited number of time, be it for a one-way delivery voyage or for other reasons. The temporary registration can be realised within 24 hours and extended in case a voyages is delayed due to unforeseen whether circumstances.

Of great importance is to realise that the vessel may under no circumstances be registered elsewhere. According to international maritime law a vessel may, in principle, not be registered in the ships registrar of two different flag states. A vessel may not have two nationalities. Vessel with two nationalities are considered stateless.

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Requirements

We work with a number of different flag states that offer provisional yacht registrations. For certain type of vessels one flag state is more attractive than the other. So depending on the type of vessel and its destination, we could advice one flag state over the other, because the requirements are a bit simpler to meet.

The document requirements may also differ, depending on the type of vessel, age, route of the voyage, etc. So for us to be able to give a sound advice which flag state is the best choice to apply for the provisional registration, we would need an information on the vessel and the voyage she is to take.

Provisional registrations basically give a yacht temporarily the nationality of the flag state that issues the provisional registration. Because the process of registering a yacht is time consuming, the provisional registration is an excellent solution to temporary register the vessel for the sole purpose of a one-way delivery voyage.

For what is a provisional registration used

Provisional yacht registration is a common way of registering a vessel for a short period of time, very. That can be for a one-way delivery voyage, but also in exceptional cases when a vessel is  in the process of being registered, but the process is delayed for months. In such an exceptional cases, one can also apply for a provisional yacht registration, provided that yacht is not registered.

The validity of a provisional yacht registration

The validity of the provisional registration varies from 30, 60 to 90 days. If, for example, an oceanic crossing is on the route to the end destination and the weather gods are not cooperating, then the temporary registration of the yacht can be extended, in case it would expire during the voyage.

Providing communication lines are open with the skipper on-board, the temporary registration is extended and the Certificate of Registry is then mailed in the form of a certified PDF.

 

Provisional yacht registration within 24 hours

What makes the provisional registration for yachts shorter than 24 meters a very convenient instrument to move the vessel from A to B, is that it can be issued within 24 hours.

If all document requirements are met, it might even take only a few hours.

Ship station licence

Depending on the flag state that issues the provisional registration for the yacht, a CallSign, MMSI and ATIS will be simultaneously issued with the temporary registration. The communication equipment will have to be programmed accordingly.