Poredbeno Pomorsko Pravo (Dec 2021)
Croatian Register of Ships - history and latest updates
Abstract
Over the years the system of registration of ships and mortgages in Croatia has passed through significant modifications, all of them made with the intention to ensure the attractiveness of the Croatian Register of Ships and boost the competitiveness of Croatian shipping. With the latest 2019 Act on Amendments to the Maritime Code1 (hereinafter: Amendments) the system of ship registration has completed its long development, from a complex court-administrative procedure to a simple and expeditious one. In the past, the system was organised through separate registers for respective types of maritime objects (craft). Eight Harbour Master Offices, located in eight Croatian ports, had jurisdiction for ship registration and for keeping the Register Books. The Amendments organised the Register as a unified and centralised register, kept in electronic form for all types of maritime objects (navigational, floating and fixed) and maritime objects in construction, excluding war ships and ships constructed for the Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia or foreign armed forces. The shipowner or the operator or manager of a ship in international trade or the owner or charterer of a yacht of 24 metres or over in length sailing internationally can register a ship or yacht in any Croatian port regardless of the location of its principal place of business. The concept of hypothec/mortgage was developed from “the contractual right of pledge on a ship” equivalent to the civil law hypothec, into the hypothec on a ship adopted in the 2004 Maritime Code, which confers upon the creditor the same rights as an English mortgage. The recognition of documents in English eliminates the need for translation into Croatian formerly required for registration. Now, the procedure for the registration and deletion of ships and mortgages is simple and expeditious.
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