Yacht has no flag

[Askeeta]

How does that work
Boat is in Philippines and doesn’t have any registration,am told it’s my choice.
Can it be registered in Australia with out bringing it here?
Wouldn’t it create problems talking to another country?
How does it stay in Phillipines,previously registers Great Britain?

[Ahquabi]

Yes you can register it in Australia if you are an Australian citizen. It doen't matter where the yacht is. Bear in mind you will need to pay GST and import tax if you do bring it to Australia.


Yes it needs to registered somewhere to do international travel.


Technically it should be registered whilst in the Phillipines but this is not policed very well.

[valhalla360]

I wouldn't touch it with a 10 ft pole if they can't produce a current valid registration that you can confirm. Otherwise the legal owner may show up and take possession.

Once you have that...yes, you can re-register it in another country (assuming you have the right to register a boat in that country...many have citizenship or residency requirements)

Of course, the new registration may trigger import/export duties and other requirements.

[Ahquabi]

Yep, you wouldn't be the first person to buy a yacht from someone who doesn't own it.

[Askeeta]

Thankyou for your advice,greatly appreciated

[Tillsbury]

Can you get independent verification of its ownership and lack of loans outstanding on it? If not, leave it. Many boats here in NZ aren’t registered because (a) you don’t have to and (b) it’s expensive and (c) it’s a very long way to another country. But you still need to get clear ownership confirmation and it’s easy here to check whether any money is owing on it. Not so much in some other countries.

[Askeeta]

thank you Tillsbury for your advice

[RaymondR]

You will need chain of ownership documentation to get Australian registration. Statutory declarations sometimes suffice for home built boats. I'd get in touch with the shipping registration folks at AMSA for their current requirements. I've found them to be pretty good folks to deal with in the past.

[El Pinguino]

Originally Posted by Askeeta

How does that work
Boat is in Philippines and doesn’t have any registration,am told it’s my choice.
Can it be registered in Australia with out bringing it here?
Wouldn’t it create problems talking to another country?
How does it stay in Phillipines,previously registers Great Britain?

Re ...why no current registration.....?

Is she currently owned by a Filipino resident? If so there was nothing dodgy about letting the UK registration lapse. One assumes any Filipino import duties have been paid.

Same as you buying a UK flag boat in Oz..... if you don't plan on leaving 'straya with her you would simply let the UK rego lapse and put her under state rego.

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by El Pinguino

Is she currently owned by a Filipino resident? If so there was nothing dodgy about letting the UK registration lapse. One assumes any Filipino import duties have been paid.

Same as you buying a UK flag boat in Oz..... if you don't plan on leaving 'straya with her you would simply let the UK rego lapse and put her under state rego.

It's really unclear from the original post what the current status of the boat is....

But just letting the UK Registration lapse without registering it in the Philippines (or other country based on the owners citizenship/residency) is a red flag and it's a huge assumption without supporting paperwork to assume import duties have been paid.

PS: Registration in this context may go under different names by country or state/province but the key point is paperwork confirming legally who is the owner and that there are no outstanding liens or other encumbrances that would make it difficult to take and maintain ownership of the boat.

[Askeeta]

Thank you el Valhalla

[Askeeta]

And others,appreciate your interest and feedback