A Guide to Ship Registration

Registry Transactions and Mortgages

The Register of Cyprus Ships
Transfers and transmissions of ownership, as well as registrations, discharges, transfers and transmissions of mortgages, must be recorded in the Register of Cyprus Ships. The relevant application must be submitted to the Registrar and the relevant documents may be deposited with the Registrar or a consular officer on the instructions of the Registrar.

Change of Ship's Name
A change of the ship’s name may be effected by submitting an application to the Registrar. When the change of name is approved, a period of 3 days must lapse from the date of application before the new name can be marked on the ship and the ship’s documents be endorsed to this end. It should be noted that no two ships registered under the Cyprus flag may have either the same or closely similar names.

Deletion
A Cyprus ship must be deleted from the Register of Cyprus Ships as soon as more than half of the shares in the ship are sold to a person or company not entitled to own them under the merchant shipping legislation.

A Cyprus ship may be deleted from the Registry upon the submission of an application by the owner of the ship in order for the same to be registered in a foreign registry.

No export license is required for the deletion of a vessel from the Register of Cyprus Ships. A deletion certificate or a Closed Transcript of Registry is issued as soon as the registered mortgages and other encumbrances are discharged and all matters pending with the Registry, including financial obligations, are settled.

Mortgages
Once a ship has been registered under the Cyprus flag, a mortgage can be created thereby securing a loan or other financial obligations on conditions agreed to by the parties, without the need for exchange control permission. The creation of a mortgage under Cypriot laws is not allowed on vessels registered parallel-in in the Register of Cyprus Ships.

A mortgage once created must be deposited with the Registrar of Cyprus Ships or with a consular officer on the instructions of the Registrar. Whether deposited with the Registrar or with a consular officer, the mortgage is recorded thereafter in the Register as from the date and time of its deposit and remains an encumbrance on the vessel until discharged by the mortgagees. A mortgage may be created independently of whether the ship is provisionally or permanently registered.

If the ship on which a mortgage was created belongs to a Cypriot company, the mortgage will also have to be registered with the Registrar of Companies within a maximum period of 42 days after its creation. The mortgagee’s security is protected in the case of liquidation of the shipowning company. Transfer of a mortgage may be effected by completing the statutory form of transfer and submitting it to the Registrar of Cyprus Ships or to a consular officer.

In order to discharge a mortgage, a memorandum of discharge will need to be duly executed by the mortgagee. It will then have to be attested and delivered to the Registrar of Cyprus Ships or a consular officer on the instructions of the Registrar..