Registration of any sea going ship or coastal ship is laid down in various international and and national convention or law.Like:-
1) UNCLOS 1982 article 91
2) MS act 1958 part V section 22
Registration of ship in any country gives the ship the nationality of the state whose flag they are entitled to fly. It makes a genuine link between the state and the ship. Lets know the basic steps of a ship registration under MS act 1958 as amended.
As per MS act 1958 as amended, every Indian ship other than 15 NT and on coast of India must be registered.The ports at which ships can be registered shall be the ports of Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai and such other ports in India as central government may declare in its official Gazettes.The basic steps are:-
A) APPLICATION FOR REGISTRY:- For registry of the ship under section 26 of act, an application for the registry shall be made by individual, joint owner or company or society. The owner makes a proposal to the Government of India. The application should be accompanied by
i) Declaration of ownership
ii) Builder's certificate
iii) Instrument of sale
Builder's certificate is the true account of the proper denomination and the tonnage of the ship as estimated by the builder. If the ship is second hand purchase then instrument of sale is required.
Name of the ship:- The owner or his agent shall give to registrar at the port of registry notice of the name proposed for the ship at least 14 days before the date on which he desires to effect the registry. At least 3 names should be proposed. On receipt of notice the registrar shall send it to DGS. The name should be approved by the DG. DG checks the name and if the name is not allotted to any other ship, the proposed name is allotted.The registrar also on receipt of application applies to DG for allotment of an Official number.
B) SURVEY AND MEASUREMENT:- After the registrar has satisfied himself as to the evidence of ownership, he shall arrange the ship to be surveyed by a surveyor and her tonnage ascertained in accordance with MS ( Tonnage measurement of ship) rules 1997. Thereafter the surveyor shall grant a certificate of survey in respect of the ship.
C) CARVING AND MARKING NOTE:- Where in respect of a ship an official number has been allotted and the name approved by DG and certificate of survey granted by surveyor, the registrar shall issue to owner a carving and marking note, which shall be returned to registrar after the carving and marking have been duly carried out and certified by the surveyor.
D) ISSUE OF CERTIFICATE OF REGISTRY:- On completion of the preliminaries of registry, the registrar shall enter the following particulars in respect of the ship.
i) The name of ship and the port where she belongs
ii) The ship identification number
iii) The particular respecting her origin stated in declaration of ownership, and
iv) The name and description of her registered owner or owners and the number of shares owned by them.
On registry of a ship the registrar shall retain in his custody the following document:-
i) The surveyor’s certificate
ii) The builder’s certificate
iii) Any instrument of sale
iv) All declaration of ownership
On completion of the registry of an Indian ship the registrar shall grant a certificate of registry containing the particulars respecting her as entered in register book with the name of her Master.