Please refer to the process overview for registering sea-going vessels and commercial yachts in the Netherlands.
To start with the registration process a presence in the Netherlands is required.
To obtain a permenant Certificate of Registry issued by NSI the most common and recommended route is to start with applying for a provisional certificate of registry (voorlopige zeebrief). For a provisional certificate of registry you first need te following documents:
- a tonnage certificate (ITC'69) issued by your classification society
- a call sign issued by the Dutch Authority for Digital Infrastructure and
- proof of ownership of the vessel (bill of sale)
After a provisional Certificate of Registration has been issued, your classification should perform the necessary (statutory) certification services.
At the same time you can apply at NSI for the remaining statutory documents such as the Safe Manning Document, CSR, DMLC Part I and the applicable liability certificates.
The validity of provisional certificates of registry may not exceed the period of six months. During this time shipowners can arrange and apply for (permanent) registration of full ownership at the Dutch Cadastral Register (Kadaster) in Rotterdam.
For permanent registration of the vessel you need a declaration of nationality from NSI. Once issued, the ownership of the vessel will have to be transferred within a period of four weeks. Otherwise the declaration is no longer valid and a new declaration will have to be applied for. From a legal point of view, it has to be certain that the vessel will be delivered to the owner within a reasonable time. Together with the application forms of the Cadastral Registry, the declaration of nationality has to be submitted at the Cadastral Registry.
After cadastral registration and carving of the vessel, the permanent certificate of registry can be applied for at NSI. This document in principal has permanent validity, unless a change of ownership or conversion of the vessel occurs.