Sachgebiet S 11
Bernhard-Nocht-Straße 78
20359 Hamburg
Anette Claudia Scholz
Phone: +49 40 31 90-7112
Fax: +49 40 31 90-5003
Mail: flaggenrecht@bsh.de
Jasmin Lohse
Phone: +49 40 31 90-7113
Fax: +49 40 31 90-5003
Mail: flaggenrecht@bsh.de
German International Shipping Register (GIS)
Registering in the GIS is voluntary
In addition, owners of ships can have their ship voluntarily registered in the GIS – the German International Shipping Register. This allows them to employ foreign seafarers to the wage conditions of their home country when flying the German flag.
The main condition is that the ship flies the Federal flag. Flagging-in fulfils this requirement as well (e.g.: purchase of a ship abroad or re-flagging the ship after having flown a foreign flag). Furthermore, the merchant ships have to be employed in international navigation in accordance with the German Einkommenssteuergesetz (income tax act), Section 5a Par. 2.
Both the entry into the GIS as well as the shipping subsidisations are ways to meet the current challenges for the shipping industry.
As the responsible Flag Administration, the BSH maintains the GIS as well. It is not comparable with a shipping register for sea-going ships of the district courts. It is a non-public appendage to the Flag Register. The legal basis is the Flaggenrechtsgesetz (German Flag Act), Section 12.
Do you want to take advantage of the German Flag and at the same time benefit from national wage conditions? Please submit the signed application form (only in German language) in the original.