The United Kingdom (UK) Ship Register is one of the world’s most popular choices for the registration of yachts.
Oceanskies is a Channel Island based yacht documentation agency that is responsible for a significant percentage of yacht registrations in the UK each year and the purpose of this guide to to highlight the many advantages of the register and to introduce the Jersey yacht registration services that we provide.
The UK is one of the world’s leading maritime nations. London is the world’s foremost centre for maritime business services. The unparalleled tradition of excellence in legal, arbitration, insurance, P&I, shipbroking and finance makes results in the UK being the first choice for the registration of yachts sailing internationally.
The UK Ship Register is a British ‘red ensign’ register administered by the UK Government’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA).
Before 1786, there were no central government records of ship registration, although ships began to be registered around the middle of the 17th century when foreign built ships were required to register with customs in order to obtain the same trading privileges as British built ships.
Towards the end of the 17th century British-built ships were required to register before trading to or from the British colonies and later this requirement was extended to ships importing wool from Ireland.
The Merchant Shipping Act of 1786 required all British ships of more than 15 tons to register with Customs in their home port. A copy, known as a transcript of each entry was sent to the Custom House in London or Edinburgh becoming the first national register of ships.
Today the UK Ship Register is governed by the Merchant Shipping Act of 1995 that can trace its origins back to the original 1786 act.
The UK register is administered by a central Registry of Shipping and Seamen located in Cardiff, Wales.
The registry oversees registration of vessels at all 116 mainland UK ports of registry.
London is the most popular UK port of registry but an owner of a yacht intending to register with the UK Ship Register can choose any one of the 116 UK ports of registry listed in the following table:
Aberdeen | Dartmouth | Kirkcaldy | Port Talbot |
Aberystwyth | Dover | Kirkwall | Portsmouth |
Alloa | Dumfries | Lancaster | Preston |
Arbroath | Dundee | Leith | Ramsgate |
Ardrossan | Exeter | Lerwick | Rochester |
Ayr | Falmouth | Littlehampton | Runcorn |
Banff | Faversham | Liverpool | Rye |
Barnstaple | Felixstowe | Llanelli | Salcombe |
Barrow | Fishguard | London | Scarborough |
Beaumaris | Fleetwood | Londonderry | Scilly |
Belfast | Folkestone | Lowestoft | Shoreham |
Berwick on Tweed | Fowey | Maldon | South Shields |
Bideford | Fraserburgh | Manchester | Southampton |
Blyth | Glasgow | Maryport | St Ives |
Borrowstoness | Gloucester | Methil | Stockton |
Boston | Goole | Middlesbrough | Stornoway |
Bridgewater | Grangemouth | Milford Haven | Stranraer |
Bristol | Granton | Montrose | Sunderland |
Brixham | Great Yarmouth | Newcastle | Swansea |
Buckie | Greenock | Newhaven | Teignmouth |
Burntisland | Grimsby | Newport | Troon |
Caernarfon | Hartlepool | Newry | Truro |
Campbelltown | Hartlepool West | North Shields | Weymouth |
Cardiff | Harwich | Padstow | Whitby |
Cardigan | Hull | Penzance | Whitehaven |
Chester | Inverness | Peterhead | Wick |
Colcester | Ipswich | Plymouth | Wigtown |
Coleraine | Irvine | Poole | Wisbech |
Cowes | Kings Lynn | Portland | Workington |
Owners of UK registered yachts are able to fly the prestigious red ensign that is recognised and held in high regard throughout the world.
Upon completion of registration formalities a UK registered yacht is issued with a Certificate of British Registry. The Certificate of British Registry is valid for five years from the date of issue.
The UK Ship Register will accept private pleasure yachts and commercial yachts of any size that are based and operated anywhere in the world.
The UK Ship Register is an international register meaning that the register is not just restricted to UK companies or UK citizens.
All British citizens and companies may register a yacht in the UK in their own name as well as citizens and companies from countries listed in the following table:
European Union |
Commonwealth |
British Overseas Territories |
Austria | Antigua & Barbuda | Anguilla |
Belgium | Australia | Bermuda |
Bulgaria | The Bahamas | British Antarctic Territory |
Croatia | Bangladesh | British Indian Ocean Territory |
Cyprus | Barbados | British Virgin Islands |
Czech Republic | Belize | Cayman Islands |
Denmark | Botswana | Falkland Islands |
Estonia | Brunei | Gibraltar |
Finland | Cameroon | Montserrat |
France | Canada | Pitcairn Islands |
Germany | Cyprus | St Helena, Ascension and Tristan Da Cunha |
Greece | Dominica | South Georgia |
Hungary | Eswatini | South Sandwich Islands |
Ireland | Fiji | Sovereign base areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia |
Italy | The Gambia | Turks and Caicos Islands |
Latvia | Ghana | |
Lithuania | Grenada |
Other Countries |
Luxembourg | Guyana | |
Malta | India | Argentina |
Poland | Jamaica | Aruba |
Portugal | Kenya | Bahrain |
Romania | Kiribati | Brazil |
Slovakia | Lesotho | Canary Islands |
Slovenia | Malawi | China |
Spain | Malaysia | Faroe Islands |
Sweden | Mauritius | Haiti |
The Netherlands | Mozambique | Israel |
Namibia | Japan | |
EEA |
Nauru | Liberia |
New Zealand | Madeira | |
Iceland | Nigeria | Marshall Islands |
Liechenstein | Pakistan | Monaco |
Norway | Papua New Guinea | Panama |
Rwanda | South Korea | |
Saint Kitts and Nevis | Switzerland | |
Saint Lucia | Suriname | |
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | United Arab Emirates | |
Samoa | United States of America | |
Seychelles | ||
Sierra Leone | ||
Singapore | ||
Solomon Islands | ||
South Africa | ||
Sri Lanka | ||
Tanzania | ||
Tonga | ||
Trinidad and Tobago | ||
Tuvalu | ||
Uganda | ||
Vanuatu | ||
Zambia |
Oceanskies is based in the Channel Islands and provides a fixed fee yacht registration service to all yacht owners wishing to take advantage of the benefits of UK registration for their yacht.
The registration service results in Oceanskies taking responsibility for the entire registration process on behalf of the owner.
Our fees include all registry fees and disbursements providing the internationally recognised UK Certificate of British Registry valid for five years and a lifetime radio licence allocating the vessel’s call sign and MMSI number.
Through Oceanskies Crew Limited we are able to provide crew payroll outsourcing services from the Channel Islands for crew working onboard UK registered vessels.
This service is a very popular ‘bolt on’ service for our clients as it simplifies the employment of the crew of their UK registered yacht.
The yacht owner engages Oceanskies Crew Limited to employ and pay the crew of their vessel through a crew services agreement. As employers, Oceanskies Crew Limited issues the crew with contracts in line with the Marine Labour Convention guidelines, pays them, issues payslips, sea service testimonials etc.
For further information please refer to the crew employment and payroll section of our website at the following link:
Oceanskies are able to provide a range of stand alone fixed fee additional registration services including:
Please do not hesitate to contact is for a fixed price quotation for any of these services.