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Old 18-07-2017, 03:08   #1
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Which Flag ?

I am British Born & Bred, and hold a British Passport, but I have lived and worked in Germany for the last 20 years. The boat resides in Croatia and its current owner has it under a Brit flag.

Do I register my boat under a British Flag or German Flag ?

Thanks

Dave
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Old 18-07-2017, 03:23   #2
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Re: Which Flag ?

Dave, go with your nationality flag,

You can have it registered basically any where you desire depending on the nations rules and regulations, hence why a lot of vessels are registered in third world countries as they are cheaper to register and have in most cases easier regulations (called flag of convenience).

But most pleasure craft tend to register in the owners passport country, as it is easier to complete and if cruising internationally can ease some of the questions raised on entering,

Some countries if not your own ask for a corporation to be formed or other connections to the vessel/country, in your case as the vessel is British flagged and your British then makes sense to just change the ownership under British rules,

Cheers Steve
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Old 18-07-2017, 06:36   #3
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Re: Which Flag ?

For UK SSR (Small Ships Register) you need to be resident in the UK, in the past you only needed a mailing address in the UK but I believe they they now want some kind of prof of residency. Part 1 anyone can register.
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Old 18-07-2017, 08:32   #4
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Re: Which Flag ?

Quote:
Originally Posted by inet-projects View Post
I am British Born & Bred, and hold a British Passport, but I have lived and worked in Germany for the last 20 years. The boat resides in Croatia and its current owner has it under a Brit flag.

Do I register my boat under a British Flag or German Flag ?

Thanks

Dave
It may well be none of the above. I'd really get with a documentation service in that region and get advice from them. They can review your specific situation and advise you of the pros and cons of all choices. It could be the UK, Germany, Croatia or it could be somewhere else like Marshall Islands or Gibraltar or Malta. You will pay a documentation service a small fee to assist you in the exchange of the boat and the documentation but it is well worth it in complex situations where they may see pitfalls we wouldn't or may see advantages that most would not be aware of.
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Old 25-07-2017, 12:08   #5
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Re: Which Flag ?

I would suggest the answer depends on your plans post-Brexit, both where you will be living and where you will be keeping the boat.

Post Brexit, nobody knows what the situation will be with VAT paid boats. Will the EU still accept UK flagged boats as being VAT paid? Who knows?

If you are likely to stay living in Germany post-Brexit and sailing mostly in the EU then it may well be beneficial to reflag the boat as German.

However, if you intend to return to the UK and/or are not concerned about the future VAT implications then you may as well retain the British flag
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Old 25-07-2017, 13:51   #6
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Re: Which Flag ?

If you want to register in Germany, you could get an Interantional Bootsschein (IBS) from ADAC/DSV or some other organisations for a boat shorter then 15 meters instead of registering with your homeport authorities.

It is only 25 Euro and will serve as certificate of ownership. But you need to live in Germany. No anual fees but only valid for two years. You would get a licence/registration number as official label.
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Old 05-08-2017, 11:31   #7
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Re: Which Flag ?

Martin,

Apologies for the late reply I was in Croatia buying the boat.

Thank you for that looking at the comments in this thread, I think German registration is going to be the way to go.

Anyone.
From an English point of view the boat is registered as Class 3, what is the difference between Class 3 & Class1?
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Old 06-08-2017, 03:59   #8
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Re: Which Flag ?

Quote:
Originally Posted by inet-projects View Post
Anyone.
From an English point of view the boat is registered as Class 3, what is the difference between Class 3 & Class1?
Part 3 is what is commonly known as the Small Ships Register. As Anders said above, you do actually need to be resident in the UK to have a boat on Part 3 (well, live in the UK for at least 6 months of the year anyway).

With Part 3 all you need to do is declare that you are the owner of the vessel in question and they will send out a certificate.

With Part 1 you need to provide actual evidence that you are the owner, for example a sales agreement, or builders certificate etc covering every time the vessel has been bought and sold over the last five years.

So, that's not just when you bought it but also every sale of that particular yacht over the last five years (eg when the original owner bought it from the builder, for example, if the boat was built within the last five years)

If you are going to register the yacht on the German registry then you will need to first de-register it from Part 3. I think that you might also first have to register yourself as the new owner of the yacht before you can then de-register it (I'm not sure).

Or perhaps ask the previous owner to de-register it for you?

Here is a link to the Small Ships Register online service for more information, I'm sure that they will be able to adivise you properly on what you should do to de-register the yacht:-

https://mcanet.mcga.gov.uk/ssr/ssr/
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Old 10-08-2017, 11:04   #9
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Re: Which Flag ?

You could check Belgian or Dutch flags. They are the most easy to obtain for non-residents, particularly belgian one, as most paperwork can be handled easily by email and they have very reasonable fees.

In fact, in Spain many nationals are turning to these flags in order to avoid the absurd requirements of our government regarding technical inspections, allowed navigation areas, security equipment and so on.

Not that Belgium and Netherlands are have simpler requirements than other (european) countries, but they make easier for non-residents to register the boat.
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