Can you distinguish the ship's register, flag and class?



Ships travel through rivers, lakes and seas, especially ocean-going ships, footprints all over the world, through the ship registration, flag can know where these ships come from? Which country does it belong to? Ship registration is the nationality of the ship, and the flag of the ship is clear identity. Just as different countries have different requirements for obtaining their own nationality, countries have different standards for obtaining ship registration, such as some countries will look at whether the ownership of the ship belongs to their own people, some countries will look at whether the crew is their own people, and some countries have no requirements, as long as you apply, I will agree to come.

Flag, register and class, like tongue twisters, silly indistinct. Let's take a closer look at these concepts.

Registration of a ship

As the name suggests, refers to the nationality of the ship. A ship has chosen its nationality before birth (manufacture) (of course, it can be changed later), and the owner of the ship is registered in accordance with the ship registration method of a country, obtain a certificate of nationality, that is, has the nationality of the country, and has a legal relationship with the country. According to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), there must be a genuine link between the State conferring nationality on a ship and the ship, that is, a State must not only grant nationality to the ship, it must also register the ship, and it must set specific conditions regarding the right of the ship to fly its flag. It must also effectively exercise jurisdiction and control in administrative, technical and social matters by ships flying the flag of that State.

Some countries stipulate that only the ownership of the ship is wholly owned by its own people, can obtain its nationality, such as the United Kingdom. Some countries require not only that the whole or part of the ship belong to their nationals, but also that all or part of the staff and crew of the ship be nationals, such as France. According to relevant Chinese laws and regulations, ships flying the Chinese flag shall belong to Chinese citizens and legal persons.

Shipowners (shipowners) will consider the relevant requirements and policies of their own country and other countries, such as taxes and fees, when choosing a ship's registration. There are many countries in the world that adopt low tax policies to attract merchant ships to join, which we call "flag of convenience." Common flag of convenience countries: Bahamas, Liberia, Malta, Marshall Islands, Panama, Cayman Islands, etc.

In recent years, China has constantly adjusted and improved relevant policies to attract Chinese-funded "flag of convenience" ships to return. In the face of new opportunities in the construction of free trade ports, Hainan actively explores a more open and convenient international ship registration system. On June 4, COSCO Shipping's "COSCO Shipping Prosperity" became the first freighter to register with "China Yangpu Port" as its registered port. This also marks the official landing of the Hainan Free Trade Port ship registration policy.

flag

A ship's flag is a sign of a ship's nationality. According to international law, merchant ships are the floating territory of the flag state, whether on the high seas or in the waters of other countries, they need to fly the flag of the country of origin. Ships are obliged to comply with and enjoy the protection of the laws of the State of their nationality. Normally, a merchant ship must and can only fly the flag of the country of registration (territory). However, ships registered in Hong Kong or Macao need to fly the five-star red flag and the regional flag at the same time.

Ships must fly the national flag of a country to sail on the high seas, and stateless ships sailing on the high seas will be regarded as pirate ships and can be intercepted by aircraft and warships of various countries. A ship which sails under two or more flags and changes its flag as convenient may not claim any of them to any other State and may be regarded as a stateless ship.

A ship of convenience is a ship registered in a foreign country, flying a foreign flag and operating on the international market. The reason for this is that the country of registration has lower taxes and other costs than its own country, it can hire foreign sailors with lower wages without being restricted by its own laws, and it can avoid requisition by its own government. Such ships registered in other countries and flying the flag of other countries are called flag of convenience ships or open registration ships. However, due to the inability of countries with open registration to effectively implement administrative, technical and social affairs jurisdiction and control over ships flying their national flags, the proportion of accidents at sea is large, which is not conducive to safe navigation.

Each country has the power to supervise foreign ships operating within its territorial jurisdiction, known as Port State control (PSC). PSC inspection includes the ship's technical condition, operational requirements, the ship's allocation and the crew's living and working conditions, etc., in order to ensure the safety of the ship and life and property, and prevent Marine pollution for the purpose of supervision and control.

Ship's class

It is a kind of norm and standard for supervising the construction of ships, and the corresponding authority exercising the right is the classification society. All ships of more than 100 gross tons need to obtain classification society certification. Different classification societies have different requirements for ship construction technical indicators. The classification society is selected before a ship is built, and the design drawings should be approved by the classification society. After the completion of the construction of the ship, the classification society shall inspect the ship according to its technical standards and issue a certificate.

Classification society certification contributes to the safe navigation of ships and proves that they meet the technical requirements for safe operation.

The world's more famous classification societies are China Classification Society (CCS), Lloyd's Register of Shipping (LR), German Lloyd's Register of Shipping (GL), and Norwegian Classification Society (DNV). Among them, GL and DNV have been merged into DNV-GL.

China Classification Society (CCS) is the only professional institution engaged in ship classification and inspection business in China, with more than 80 branches covering major ports at home and abroad, forming a global service network covering Asia, Europe, America, Africa and Oceania. At present, the government of 34 countries or regions is authorized to carry out statutory surveys for ships flying the flag of these countries or regions.