Regulation (EC) No 789/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 April 2004 on the transfer of cargo and passenger ships between registers within the Community and repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 613/91 (Text with EEA relevance)

Article 1

Purpose

The purpose of this Regulation is to eliminate technical barriers to the transfer of cargo and passenger ships flying the flag of a Member State between the registers of the Member States while, at the same time, ensuring a high level of ship safety and environmental protection, in accordance with International Conventions.

Article 2

Definitions

For the purposes of this Regulation:

(a) ‘Conventions’means the 1974 International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (1974 SOLAS), the 1966 International Convention on Load Lines (LL 66), the 1969 International Convention on Tonnage Measurement of Ships, and the 1973 International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, as amended by the 1978 Protocol relating thereto (MARPOL 73/78), in their up-to-date versions, and related codes of mandatory status adopted in the framework of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), together with Protocols and amendments thereto in their up-to-date versions;

(b) ‘Requirements’means the safety, security and pollution-prevention requirements relating to the construction and equipment of ships laid down in the Conventions and, for passenger ships engaged on domestic voyages, those set out in Council Directive 98/18/EC of 17 March 1998 on safety rules and standards for passenger ships (¹);

(c) ‘Certificates’means certificates, documents and statements of compliance issued by a Member State or by a recognised organisation on its behalf in accordance with the Conventions, and for passenger ships engaged on domestic voyages, those issued in accordance with Article 11 of Directive 98/18/EC;

(d) ‘Passenger ship’means a ship carrying more than twelve passengers;

(e) ‘Passenger’ means every person other than:

(f) ‘Domestic voyage’means a voyage in sea areas from a port of a Member State to the same or another port within that Member State;

(g) ‘International voyage’means a voyage by sea from a port of a Member State to a port outside that Member State, or conversely;

(h) ‘Cargo ship’means a ship which is not a passenger ship;

(i) ‘Recognised organisation’means an organisation recognised in accordance with Article 4 of Directive 94/57/EC.

Article 3

Scope

This Regulation shall apply to:

(a) cargo ships, carrying valid certificates, which: (i) were built on or after 25 May 1980, or (ii) were built before that date, but have been certified by a Member State or by a recognised organisation acting on its behalf as complying with the regulations for new ships defined in 1974 SOLAS, or, in the case of chemical tankers and gas carriers, with the relevant Standard codes for ships built on or after 25 May 1980;

(b) passenger ships engaged on domestic and/or international voyages, carrying valid certificates, which: (i) were built on or after 1 July 1998, or (ii) were built before that date, but have been certified by a Member State or by a recognised organisation acting on its behalf as complying with the requirements set out for ships built on or after 1 July 1998: — in Directive 98/18/EC, for ships engaged on domestic voyages, — in 1974 SOLAS, for ships engaged on international voyages.

This Regulation shall not apply to:

(a) ships following delivery after completion of their construction that do not carry valid full-term certificates from the Member State of the losing register;

(b) ships that have been refused access to Member States' ports in accordance with Directive 95/21/EC during the three years preceding application for registration and to ships that have been detained following inspection in the port of a State signatory of the Paris Memorandum of Understanding of 1982 on Port State Control and for reasons relating to the requirements defined in Article 2(b), more than once during the three years preceding application for registration. Member States shall nevertheless give due and timely consideration to applications in respect of such ships;

(c) ships of war or troopships, or other ships owned or operated by a Member State and used only on government non-commercial service;

(d) ships not propelled by mechanical means, wooden ships of primitive build, pleasure yachts not engaged in trade or a fishing vessel;

(e) cargo ships of less than 500 gross tonnage.

Article 4

Transfer of register

In order to fulfil their obligations under regional environmental instruments ratified before 1 January 1992, Member States may impose additional rules in accordance with the optional Annexes to the Conventions.

Article 5

Certificates

Article 6

Refusal of transfer and interpretation

Unless the Commission is informed of an agreement between the Member States concerned within one month, it shall initiate proceedings in order to take a decision in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 7(2).

The Member State shall immediately bring the matter to the attention of the Commission, stating the reasons for the suspension of the registration. The decision not to register the ship shall be confirmed or not in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 7(2).

Article 7

Committee procedure

Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 5 and 7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, having regard to the provisions of Article 8 thereof.

The period laid down in Article 5(6) of Decision 1999/468/EC shall be set at two months.

Article 8

Reporting

Article 9

Amendments

Article 9a

Exercise of the delegation

Article 10

Repeal

Regulation (EEC) No 613/91 is hereby repealed.

Article 11

Entry into force

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.