Any commercial vessel can be registered in the Gibraltar Commercial Ships Register except fishing vessels and ships with nuclear reactors. The service provided is fast and efficient and provided that the necessary surveys and certifications are organised quickly a commercial vessel can be registered in about one week.

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Types of Registration
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The following types of registration can be undertaken:
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• Full
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• Bareboat Charter
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• Ships under construction

An application form and declaration of ownership must be completed by the owner.
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A name which is different to any other British registered vessel must be submitted for approval which can be confirmed within 24 hours and sometimes on the same day.
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Evidence of Title
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Evidence of title must be submitted. If the vessel is new or has never been registered before, a builder’s certificate and subsequent Bills of Sale which link the owner to the vessel must be provided. For an older vessel or one which has been registered before, a sequence of Bills of Sale tracing ownership either from the builder’s certificate onwards or for the last 5 years must be submitted.

Commercial vessels which were first constructed more than 20 years ago require special consent from the local Minister for the Port before it can be registered in Gibraltar.

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Classification Societies

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Surveys must be carried out either locally by the Port Surveyor or by one of the approved classification societies detailed below.
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• American Bureau of Shipping (ABS);
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• Bureau Veritas (BV);
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• Det Norske Veritas AS (DNV);
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• Germanisher Lloyd;
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• Lloyds Register of Shipping (LR);
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• Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (Class NK); and
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• Registrazione Internazionale Navale (RINA).

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Surveys must be conducted by any of the above classification societies and certificates provided depending on the type of vessel. These include: Load Line Certificate; Oil Pollution Prevention Certificate; Cargo Ships Safety Construction Certificate; Cargo Ships Safety Equipment Certificate; Cargo Ships Safety Radio Certificate; Passenger Ships Safety Certificate.
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More specific information can be provided upon request.

Officers serving on Gibraltar registered vessels may be of any nationality or residency as long as they hold a Certificate of Competency issued by any of the countries recognised by the Gibraltar Maritime Administration. In essence, this means that the officers / crew must possess qualifications which are accepted by the British Authorities.  Further details can be provided upon request.

An Annual Tonnage Tax (ATT) shall be due and paid in respect of every ship registered in Gibraltar, other than a ship of less than 24 metres registered length or under 150 gross registered tons which is plying its trade in the Port of Gibraltar and licensed by the port authority under the Port Act.

The ATT shall be payable in advance before the first day of January of the year in respect of which it is due.

The ATT fee would be payable on a pro-rata basis by any vessel registered after the 1st of January,on a daily basis.

The ATT, based on the vessel’s Gross Tonnage (GT), shall be payable at the following rates:-

DISCOUNTS APPLIED

Multiple vessel registration discounts

A discount of the ATT per vessel annually (payable on 01 January) is available to owners who register multiple ships with the Gibraltar ship register. The discounts applied will be as specified in Table 2 below:

Green incentive

Vessels that adopt energy efficient designs which exceed IMO’s MARPOL Annex VI Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) reduction factors and vessels adopting “Green Ship” technologies and systems, will be eligible for the initial registration fees being waived and a 20% discount of the ATT.

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If the ship owner is a company the following documents must also be provided: a certified copy of the certificate of incorporation, an appointment of an authorised officer and a letter as to the principal place of business of the company.  

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Carving & Marking Note

Once the Registry is satisfied that the vessel can be registered in Gibraltar, it will issue a carving and marking note which shows the official number and name which must be marked on the hull. Once the vessel is correctly marked, the attending surveyor from one of the above Classification Societies will complete the carving and marking note and return it to the Gibraltar Maritime Administration.

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Once this has been returned to the Registry a Certificate of Registration will be issued. Additionally, within 60 days of the vessel being registered in Gibraltar, any previous registration must be terminated.

The Certificate of Registration must be renewed at varying intervals and is done so on payment of the requisite renewal fee. Our firm can organise this on behalf of the owners and the intervals are as follows:
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• Full - Every five years
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• Bareboat Charter - Every two years