Flags of Convenience

[Cloroxbottle]

Question: Does a flag of convenience entitle a vessel to enter and remain at anchor or at a dock in the territorial waters of the country of registry +/- displaying a Q flag although foreign national crew may not be allowed to disembark and clear into the country?

[Montanan]

A country retains control over its territorial waters, the flagging of the boat does not change such.

One has to clear into a country upon arrival unless one is simply making none stop passage through the territorial waters under innocent passage.

Each country establishes its own customs and immigration rules and procedures to which one has to comply.


A Q flag is a signaled request for Free Pratique which may or may not be granted.

Pratique is the license given to a ship to enter port on assurance from the captain to convince the authorities that she is free from contagious disease. The clearance granted is commonly referred to as free pratique. A ship can signal a request for pratique by flying a solid yellow square-shaped flag.

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by Cloroxbottle

Question: Does a flag of convenience entitle a vessel to enter and remain at anchor or at a dock in the territorial waters of the country of registry +/- displaying a Q flag although foreign national crew may not be allowed to disembark and clear into the country?

For leisure vessels , the answer is no

[denverd0n]

Once again, as with all such questions, the world is a big place, made up of lots of independent countries. Each of these countries makes their own laws, and no two are exactly alike. You have to check the laws in the specific country that you are considering in order to know the answer to your question.

The answer will probably be "yes" in some places, and will certainly be "no" in other places. If you want one answer that applies to the whole world, then the answer is "it depends."