In accordance with Merchant Ships Act, 2001 there is no preliminary registration period. However, it is possible to obtain a Preliminary Certificate to enable conditional short-term permission to operate vessel after Carving and Marking is issued and before issue of Permanent Certificate of Registry.
Therefore it is not possible to obtain preliminary registration to sail your vessel, unless you meet very specific criteria. This certification will only be issued if you need to sail the vessel from port A to port B, which will be indicated clearly in the certificate. This will not allow you to sail the vessel anywhere else.
The documents and application forms which should be submitted in order to register your yacht with the Virgin Islands Shipping Registry and receive Permanent Certificate of Registration are following:
- Application form for proposed name
- Application form for registration
- Application form for Ship Radio station
- Certificate of Incorporation (if owner is a company)
- Certificate of Good Standing (for company more than one year old)
- Appointment of Authorized Officer
- Appointment of Representative Person
- Declaration of Eligibility (Such declaration can only be made after the vessel has been acquired by the applicant. Therefore, the date must not precede the date in the Builders Certificate or the Bill of Sale)
- Undertaking to Act as Representative Person
- Letter of Vessel Intended Use (from a person authorized to make such a statement)
- Builder's Certificate
- Bill of Sale
- Deletion Certificate/Closed Transcript of Registry
- Certificate of Survey/Tonnage
- Payment confirmation
Please note, that any documents that are used to support an application and are in a foreign Language must be accompanied by a notarized translation into English language and it must be certified as correct by a notary public.
REQUIREMENTS FOR SHIP RADIO STATION LICENSE
An Application for a License or renewal thereof must be made during the month of January in the required form.
A License is valid until the 31st day of December of the year it was issued unless it has been previously revoked.
WHAT IS REQUIRED TO APPLY FOR PARTICULAR CHANGE OF A REGISTERED YACHT
Change of Ownership
- Appointment of Authorized Officer
- Appointment of Representative Person
- Declaration of Eligibility
- Original Bill of Sale
- Certificate of Incorporation (if company)
- Certificate of Good Standing (if the company more than one year old)
- Payment confirmation
Change of Name of a yacht
- Application to change the name, giving 3 names in order of priority
- Letter from the Mortgagee confirming "no objection" to change of name
- Fee to change the name and issue new Certificate of Registry
Change of the Engine Details, Tonnage, Dimensions
- Original Certificate of Survey issued by one of the approved Classification Societies or organizations
- Fee for new Certificate of Registry