Shipping registers of sea-going ships

• "First register" and "Second register"
• List of shipping registers in Germany
• Registration in the shipping register of sea-going ships
• Fees Calculator Ship Registration
• Certificate of registry and distinctive number or letters
• Register and German Flag

"First register" and "Second register"

There are two shipping registers in Germany:

• The shipping registers for sea-going ships (also called "first register") and
• The German International Shipping Register (GIS) (also called "second register")

The "first register" is not one uniform entity but the shipping registers for sea-going ships are maintained by certain district courts. The homeport of a ship determines which district court is responsible.

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The GIS, on the other hand, is one uniform directory and is maintained by the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency.

List of shipping registers in Germany

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Registration in the shipping register of sea-going ships

Every German shipowner has to register their sea-going vessel in a German shipping register of sea-going ships if it is over 15 meters in (hull) length. Smaller sea-going ships (e.g. recreational craft) can, but do not have to, be registered.

Shipping registers of sea-going ships are comparable to land title registers for properties and serve several purposes: identifying a sea-going vessel, disclosing the shipowner's citizenship as well as registering the legal positions concerning propriety and ship mortgages.

To enter a ship into a shipping register of sea-going ships, the shipowner usually has to submit the following documents:

• International tonnage certificate,
• Copy of the bill of sale for a ship already in service or shipyard construction certificate for newbuildings,
• Copy of commercial register extract,
• Copy of the personal identification document of the managing director of the shipowning company,
• On the day of changing flag, certificate of deletion from the previous flag registry (for ships already in service).

So far, there is no uniform application form for all shipping registers of sea-going ships.

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Fees Calculator Ship Registration

With our Fees Calculator Ship Registration, you can calculate the fees for your ship's initial registration into a German shipping register for sea-going ships yourself. Please enter the value of your ship (e.g. acc. to the sales contract of the ship) in Euros.

Usually there are no further fees for your initial registration when flagging-in, because most ships of German owners are already registered in a German shipping register for sea-going ships.

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Certificate of registry and distinctive number or letters

Proof of registration in a shipping register for sea-going ships is the certificate of registry, in some cases other flag documents are required.

The shipping register for sea-going ships provides a unique distinctive number or letters to identify a ship clearly. The same identifier is used as call sign in maritime radiocommunication.

German distinctive number or letters are normally a combination of four letters, starting with „DA“ to „DR“ and possibly an additional number. Ships with less than 15m hull length, which do not have to be listed in the shipping register of ocean-going ships, have a call sign of two letters and four cyphers.

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Register and German Flag

When a larger sea-going ship changes to the German Flag, its registration is usually very easy, because most ships of German shipowners are already registered in a German shipping register for sea-going ships. In this case, the respective shipping register for sea-going ships deletes the entry of the permission to fly a foreign flag and issues a new certificate of registry.

Aside from the certificate of registry, in some cases other flag documents may be required.

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