Bahamas - Change Ownership With Change of Ship Name

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Procedure

Apply In-Person:

1. Owners, agents or managers seeking change of ownership along with the change of ship name, should initially make contact with the Bahamas Maritime Authority (BMA) by email to [email protected] or by phoning any BMA office. Link to Contacts
2. Requirements Checklist provides the list of documents required for the change of ownership along with the change of ship name.
3. Form R102 Application to Register a Ship or Change the name of a Bahamian Ship provides the BMA with the basic information needed to reserve the proposed name on the Register and commence registration. There is no obligation or firm commitment to register when submitting this form.
4. Form R102, together with the relevant documents listed in the “Required Documents” section, shall be sent directly to the BMA by email to [email protected] or to any BMA office.
5. When first registered, a yacht will be assigned the status of provisional registration and will be issued with a Provisional Certificate of Registry. This certificate is valid for 6 months giving the owner/manager time to comply with all conditions for full registration.
6. A yacht can operate as soon as it is provisionally registered.
7. A yacht will be provided with a Certificate of Registry with unlimited validity, once accepted into permanent registry.
8. Details of the fees may be obtained from the Registrar or by reference to BMA Information Bulletin No. 81 Link
9. The required annual fees shall be paid to the Registrar upon registration of the yacht, and thereafter on 01 January of each subsequent year. As per the provisions of the Merchant Shipping Act, the port of registry of all Bahamian yachts is “NASSAU”.
10. Full registration and receipt of the permanent Certificate of Registry from the BMA will be issued upon completion of all registration requirements during provisional registry and the payment of any relevant fees.
    

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Required Documents

Please refer to the check list provided in the Bahamas Maritime website.Link

Office Locations & Contacts

The Bahamas Maritime Authority
Nassau Office
Shirlaw House
226 Shirley Street
PO Box N-4679
Nassau, Bahamas
Tel. +1 242 356 5772
Website: Link
Contact: Link

Eligibility

Bahamian‐owned vessels of any size, operational status, or operating area if owned by:

• Bahamian citizens
• Bahamian companies
• Permanent residents of the Bahamas
  

Fees

• Details of the fees may be obtained from the Registrar or by reference to BMA Information Bulletin No. 81 Link
• Click on this link to calculate the fees using the Fee Calculator on the BMA website: Link
  

Validity

Certificate of registry valid for one year, renewable annually at the end of each calendar year.

Documents to Use

• Check list provided in the Bahamas Maritime website:Link
  
• Application Form: Application to Register a Ship or Change the name of a Bahamian Ship (Form R102)
  

Sample Documents

Please attach sample completed documents that would help other people.

Processing Time

The applications will be reviewed within 48 hours and the ISD will advise as to whether the vessel is acceptable from a technical point of view.

Related Videos

Videos explaining the procedure or to fill the applications.
Attach videos using the following tag <&video type='website'>video ID|width|height<&/video&> from external websites.
Please remove the '&' inside the tags during implementation.
Website = allocine, blip, dailymotion, facebook, gametrailers, googlevideo, html5, metacafe, myspace, revver,
sevenload, viddler, vimeo, youku, youtube
width = 560, height = 340, Video ID = Can be obtained from the URL of webpage where the video is displayed.
e.g In the following url 'http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0US7oR_t3M' Video ID is 'Y0US7oR_t3M'.

Instructions

All changes of ownership are regarded as new applications and therefore must initially be reviewed by the Inspection and Surveys Department (ISD). In order to start this process, completed Forms R102 (Application to Register a Ship) and R104 (Registration of Managing Owners etc.), along with a copy of the Bahamas ISM
DOC for the ISM Contact, should be sent to us via [email protected].

Required Information

• Applicant Type
• Application Type
• Names(s), Address(es) of Owner(s)
• Owner's Nationality
• Email Address
• Phone
• Applicant's Date of Birth
• Owner's Date of Birth (DD/MM/YYYY)
• Applicant’s Valid Identification
• Signature of Owner or Agent
  

Need for the Document

• If anybody wants to change the ownership of a registered vessel along with changing the name of the vessel, then they shall apply for the same and update the registration with the BMA.
• The change of ownership and ship name with the BMA allows the new owners to travel to various countries in their ship.
  

Information which might help

Enter other informations which might help.

Other uses of the Document/Certificate

Please explain what are other uses of obtaining this document/certificate.
e.g. Birth Certificate can be used as proof of identity.

External Links

Link

Others

Benefits of registering a ship in The Bahamas

• Bareboat / dual registration
• Providing a global network of maritime experts
• Personal service and flexibility, even outside of normal business hours
• No restrictions on sale and mortgaging
• No restrictions on nationality of crew
• Competitive fee structure with low annual costs