Jersey - Registry of British Ships To Accept Commercial Yachts up to 399 GT

The Registry of British Ships at the Port of Jersey in the Channel Islands has announced that it is able to accept commercially registered yachts up to 399 GT (equivalent to a motor yacht of approx. 40 metres in length) with immediate effect.

The Jersey register had previously only been able to accept privately registered yachts up to 399 GT with commercially registered yachts limited to 150 GT (equivalent to a motor yacht of approx. 30 metres in length).

The tonnage increase follows the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with the United Kingdom's Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) and agreements being reached with recognised survey and classification organisations such as Lloyd's Register and RINA.

The Memorandum of Understanding lays down ship safety standards, quality objectives and a delegation matrix that are in line with full category 1 jurisdictions such as the Isle of Man and the Cayman Islands which in turn  enables the potential increase of the tonnage limit to accommodate even larger vessels.

With over 2000 yachts on its register Jersey is the largest category 2 red ensign port of registry. In the year preceding the introduction of the Memorandum of Understanding the registry has seen growth of over 10%.

Jersey remains one of the most popular ports of registry for Oceanskies and its clients not least because of a combination of some, if not all, of the following factors:

• Jersey is a member of the coveted 'Red Ensign Group' of British ship registries and holds the reputation of a quality register that is familiar to port and customs authorities around the world
• Jersey yacht registration enables the prestigious red ensign to be flown
• Jersey yacht registration under part I of the register provides proof of title and enables the owner to register a mortgage on the vessel
• The Jersey Certificate of British Registry is valid for ten years
• The Jersey register can be accessed directly by all EU and Commonwealth citizens and companies as qualifying owners on the register in their own name
• Jersey is fiscally located outside the VAT territory of the EU
• Jersey is a neutral, politically stable and well regarded jurisdiction
• British Consular services and support are available to Jersey registered vessels when sailing internationally

For further information on yacht registration in Jersey or at any other popular yacht registration jurisdiction please do not hesitate to contact us.

We are also able to provide yacht registration at Jersey as part of a cost effective offshore ownership and registration package, see:

Pricing - Offshore BVI Package

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