How much is the registration of a sea-going ship?

Sea-going ships from a hull length of 15 m and more belonging to German owners have to be entered in a German shipping register for sea-going ships – irrespective of the flag the ships are flying. This is regulated under §1 of the German “Flaggenrechtsgesetz” (flag act) in conjunction with §10 para. 1 of the "Schiffsregisterordnung" (shipping register ordinance).

The charged fees for the registration in a German shipping register for sea-going ships depend on the value of the ship. In most cases, the value of the ship is given in the sales contract.

With our new Fees Calculator Ship Registration, ship operators can now calculate how high the fees for initial registration would be. Simply enter the value of the sea-going ship into the dedicated field and click once – just like that, the registration fee is displayed.

Usually, there are no fees when changing to the German Flag, because ship's of German owners that had previously been flying a foreign flag and were therefore flagged-out are already registered in a German shipping register for sea-going ships. For fees regarding changing to the German Flag and newbuildings under German Flag, please use our separate Fees Calculator German Flag.

In the meantime, the centralization trend of the previously 17 German shipping registers for sea-going ships is continuing. In 2021, the Federal States Berlin and Brandenburg transferred their shipping registers to the shipping register of Hamburg by interstate agreement. This was followed by Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg and parts of Hessen in 2023. As of 1^st February Rheinland-Pfalz has transferred about 200 sea-going and 650 inland ships of the shipping registers Mainz and St. Goar to Hamburg. The shipping register of Hamburg with over 8,000 sea-going and inland ships has been working digitally since 2020.