Provisional and Permanent Registration

Permanent Registration

The permanent registration of a provisionally registered vessel must be effected within 6 months (or 9 months if the 3 month extension has been obtained) from the date on which she was provisionally registered.

Application and Documentation
The following documents must be submitted to the Registrar of Cyprus Ships in addition to the documents required for the provisional registration:

Certificate of Survey (form MS.1) and Tonnage Certificate (form M.S.12 or M.S.12A or M.S.12B depending on the type of vessel) from a recognized Classification Society.
Ship’s Carving and Marking Note (M.S.32)
The following International Certificates from a recognized Classification Society*
- International Load Lines Certificate
- Cargo Ship Safety Equipment Certificate **
- Cargo Ship Safety Construction Certificate**
- Cargo Ship Safety Radio Certificate**
- International Oil Pollution Prevention Certificate
- International Ship Security Certificate
Safety Management Certificate (SMC) where this is required
Confirmation of the Customs Department on the payment of V.A.T. for pleasure craft, where applicable.

* Does not apply to non convention ships
** In the case of a passenger ship, this is replaced with the Passenger Ship Safety Certificate.

If the vessel falls within the ambit of the Government Policy for the Registration of vessels under the Cyprus flag then the applicable requirements or conditions under which her registration has been approved should be complied with.

Measurement of the Ship's Tonnages and Ship's Carving and Marking
The Certificate of Survey and the Cyprus Tonnage Certificate or International Tonnage Certificate (1969) may be prepared by any one of the classification societies recognised by the Cypriot Government or by the Department of Merchant Shipping.

After receipt of the aforementioned forms, the Registrar of Cyprus Ships allots to the ship her official number (which for ships over 100 GT is identical to the IMO number) and issues the ship’s carving and marking note which is given to the owner. The owner should ensure that his ship is marked in accordance with the requirements of section 8 of the Merchant Shipping (Registration of Ships, Sales and Mortgage) Law, 45/63 as amended.

The owner must then ask a surveyor of ships (surveyors of any of the recognised and authorized classification societies or of the Department of Merchant Shipping) to inspect the ship’s carving and marking. When the surveyor is satisfied that these have been made in accordance with the requirements of the aforesaid section, he will complete and sign the lower part of the note, verifying that these have been carried out and return it to the owner.

The owner should forward the duly verified Ship’s Carving and Marking Note to the Registrar of Cyprus Ships in order to enable him to proceed with the permanent registration of the vessel.

Certificate of Cyprus Registry
After receipt of all the documents set out in the previous section, and provided the appropriate fees have been paid, the Registrar of Cyprus Ships will proceed with the permanent registration of the vessel and the issue of the Certificate of Cyprus Registry (form M.S. 4 or M.S.4B).