Oceanskies Publish Guide Warning About Limitations of the Dutch ICP Yacht Registration

Oceanskies have published a guide warning about the limitations of the Dutch ICP as a registration for yachts cruising internationally.The ICP registration has recently made international headlines when the Dutch government were forced to make a formal announcement confirming that  vessels operating with this registration were not sailing under Dutch flag as per UNCLOS flag state responsibility.The announcement followed a situation in the Mediterranean whereby a migrant rescue vessel owned by a Non Governmental Organisation attempted to claim asylum for its rescuees in The Netherlands based on the vessel’s Dutch ICP registration.Duncan Swanson of Oceanskies said, ‘the Dutch ICP has been widely marketed on the internet as a low cost simple vessel registration system particularly for yachts cruising in Europe and further afield. It is the purpose of our new guide to warn existing and potential users of the system about its limitations’.Duncan went on to comment that Oceanskies are able to provide yacht owners requiring a universally accepted and internationally valid ‘yacht friendly flag’ with alternative options, for example, through the British and Maltese systems which for good reason remain amongst the largest and most popular yacht registries.The guide to the limitations of the Dutch ICP registration can be accessed on the Oceanskies website at the following link:http://old.oceanskies.com/yachts/guides/netherlands-dutch-icp-yacht-registration-a-warningWe also have an online guide to the limitations of the Delaware yacht registration system which also fails in most cases to provide an internationally valid registration on our website at the following link: http://old.oceanskies.com/yachts/guides/delaware-yacht-vessel-registration-a-warningFor further information please do not hesitate to contact us.

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