REGISTRATION OF SHIPS IN MALAYSIA
The law governing ship registration in Malaysia is the
Merchant Shipping Ordinance
1952 which was extended to Sabah and Sarawak on 1st June 1991.
Shipowner Eligibility
Vessels should be owned by a Malaysian citizen or if it
is a corporation, the corporation must satisfy the following conditions:
- incorporated in Malaysia
- principal office of the corporation is in Malaysia
- management of the corporation is mainly in Malaysia
- majority of the directors and shareholding (including voting share) of the
corporation is held by Malaysian free from any trust or obligation
Majority in this instance means 51% subject to such changes by the Minister.
Registration Documentation
The ports of registry in Malaysia are Penang, Port Klang, Labuan and Kuching.
Vessels are generally first registered on a provisional basis by the Registrar of Ships or a Malaysian diplomatic or
consular officer. The following documents must be presented for provisional registration of the vessel:
- Bill of Sale or Builder's Certificate, as the case may be
- Certificate of Survey
- Confirmation of Carving
The following documents must be submitted for registration of the Vessel:
- application form
- statutory declaration of ownership must include the following details -
- the name of the ship and its existing tonnage
- statement of the date when and place where the vessel was built, or if
the date and place of building are not known, a statement that the declarant
does not know the date and place of the building of the ship
- statement as to the owner of he ship and the citizenship of such owner,
and if the vessel is owned by more than one person, the number of shares
each is entitled
- statement of the name of the master of the Vessel and his citizenship
- statement that no other person (other than those declared) is entitled
as owner of any legal or beneficial interest in the ship or any share
thereof
- except where the operator and the owner of the ship are the same person,
the name and citizenship of the operator of the ship
- declaration that the particulars stated in the form are true to the best
of his knowledge and belief.
- notes of Name Proposed - whereby the applicant must indicate on the form
whether the vessel is newly built or previously registered under another flag
- if individual - photocopy of citizen certificate
- if corporation
- certified true copy of Memorandum and Articles of Association and
Certificate of Incorporation
- certification under common seal that the majority shareholding including
voting share of the corporation is held by Malaysian citizens free from
trust or obligations in favour of non Malaysian
- Authority Form - appointing the public officer authorised to make
declaration on behalf of the owner
- Builder's Certificate or Deletion Certificate
- Original Bill of Sale duly authenticated
- Certificate of Survey issued by Surveyors of Ships, Malaysia
- Memorandum as to registration of managing owners (forms available)
- if applicable, certification from Customs Department that import duty has
been paid.
Upon due acceptance of the above documents by the registry, the Registrar will allocate an official number to the vessel and will
issue a Carving and Marking Note.
Registration may take as quickly as one week for issuance of provisional registry and usually between six to eight
weeks for permanent registry. The certificate of provisional registry is valid for six months.
Vessel Age and Survey Requirements
There is no restriction of the age of the vessel for registration.
Survey of ships are conducted by the Surveyor of Ship working under the direction of the Surveyor-General who may designate authorised
classification society to survey the ship on his behalf.
In addition to the above the vessel may be classed with one of the following classification societies.
- Ship's Classification Malaysia
- Bureau Veritas
- Det Norske Veritas
- Germanischer Lloyd
- Lloyd's Register of Shipping
- Nippon Kaiji Kyokai
- American Bureau of Shipping
Mortgage
There are two types of mortgage forms for registration of the mortgage, that is Mortgage to secure Principal Sum and
Interest and Mortgage to Secure Account Current, & c..
The form with supporting documents as evidence of the mortgage debt and registration fee must be forwarded to the
relevant Registrar. The Registrar will enter in the Registry of Ships and return the Mortgage form stating the date
the mortgage was registered.
A mortgage on a ship may be recorded in the register as soon as the ship is registered upon presentation of the instrument of mortgage.
A mortgage on a ship may be recorded in the register as soon as the ship is registered upon presentation of the instrument of mortgage.
(a) Document of title of ownership
(b) A letter of confirmation from the previous port of registry that the vessel is free from any encumbrances and
Fees
The schedule of fees are as follows:
Initial Registration
- Vessels up to 50 tons gross RM 10.00
- Vessels over 50 to 100 tons RM 15.00
- Vessels over 100 to 200 tons RM 20.00
with RM 5.00 for every additional 100 tons or fraction of 100.
Transfer and Mortgage
On transfer, transmission, registry anew, transfer of registry, mortgage and transfer of mortgage:
According to the gross tonnage represented by the ships or shares of ships transferred etc. (eg
transfer of 1/64 share in a ship of 6,400 tons to be reckoned as the transfer of 100 tons) -
- under 10 tons - RM 1.00
- 10 tons and under 20 tons - RM 2.00
- 20 tons and under 30 tons - RM 4.00
- 30 tons and under 40 tons - RM 5.00
- 40 tons and under 50 tons - RM 6.00
- 50 tons and under 75 tons - RM 7.00
- 75 tons and under 100 tons - RM 9.00
- 100 tons and under 125 tons - RM 10.00
and a further fee of RM 1.00 for every additional 50 tons, or part of 50 tons.
Miscellaneous
Bill of Sale (if made in the Port Office) - RM 10.00
for every certified copy of documents or extracts - RM 2.00
for every inspection of any record - RM 1.00
Incorporation of Companies
The registration fee, which is in addition to document filing fee, depends on the amount of
authorised share capital of the proposed company.
- less than RM 100,000 - RM 1,000.00
- RM 100,000 - RM 500,000 -RM 3,000.00
- RM 500,000 - RM 1,000,000 - RM 5,000.00
- RM 1,000,000 - RM 5,000,000 - RM 8,000.00
- RM 5,000,000 - RM 10,000,000 -RM 10,000.00
- RM 10,000,000 - RM 25,000,000 - RM 20,000.00
- RM 25,000,000 - RM 50,000,000 - RM 40,000.00
- RM 50,000,000 - RM 100,000,000 - RM 50,000.00
- RM 100,000,000 above - RM 70,000.00
Contacts
Registrar of Ships
Port Klang
c/o Marine Department Central Region
Jalan Foreshore, PO Box 12,
42007 Port Klang.
Tel : 603-3670530
Fax : 603-3671334
Labuan
c/o Marine Department Sabah
Jalan Merdeka
PO Box 5, 87008 Labuan
Tel : 6087-413511
Fax : 6087-413515
Kuching
c/o Marine Department Sarawak
Komplek Jabatan Laut
Lot 683 Section 66
Jalan Utama, Tanah Puteh
93619 Kuching.
Tel : 6082-484018
Fax : 6082-331778
Penang
c/o Marine Department Northern Region
Jalan Akuarium Gelugor
17170 Penang.
Tel : 604-6579636
Fax : 604-6575521
List of Ships Registration Forms
- Application To Register A Ship
- Application For Name Of Ship
- Application For Reserve Prefix/Suffix Name Of Ship
- Declaration Of Ownership And Nationality
- Appoinment / Cancelation of An Authorised Officer
- Application For Allotment Of An International Call Sign
- Appointment / Cancelation / Change Of Ship Manager