Geographical Location
Seychelles is a group of 118 islands located 4° South of the Equator. The Seychelles archipelago is spread over an Exclusive Economic zone of 1.3 million kilometres in the Indian Ocean. Some of the islands are granitic whilst others are coralive. Such tropical vegetation, pristine environment, exotic marine life, unique flora and fauna, exlusive and secluded white sandy beaches and a pleasant climate make Seychelles a timeless paradise where opportunities for business and pleasure are unlimited.
The Seychelles also makes up a new hub of business opportunities that offer many opportunities that offer many advantages e.g:
• Stable and democratically elected government
• Advance international telecommunication network
• Regular international air services to Europe, Middle East, Africa and the Far East
• Favourable Time zone, GMT + 4 Hours
• Efficient Banking System
• Modern port and airport
• Modern and flexible legislation
• Same day incorporation
• IBC license fee fixed for life
• Zero tax rate on net profits from offence activities
Registration of Vessels
Registration is administrated by the Seychelles Maritime Safety Authority through the Registrar of Ships, who is responsible for the general inspection of all matters relating to shipping and the Act. The Minister may exempt any class of ships from any requirements of the Act. The Registrar of Ships is located at the home port of Mahe, Victoria, Republic of Seychelles.
An administrative office of the “Maritime Commissioner” is operated from the Republic of Singapore an International Maritime Hub to extend its maritime services to ship-owners/ship operators etc from its present scope of operations.
A Seychelles registered vessel should be wholly owned by:
• A citizen of Seychelles or,
• A body corporate established and operating under and in accordance with the laws of the Republic of Seychelles
and having its registered office in Seychelles
Bareboat Chartering
It is possible by bareboat chartering in a vessel to a company incorporated in Seychelles to have a parallel registration of a vessel under Seychelles flag, provided certain conditions are satisfied. Furthermore it is possible for a vessel registered under Seychelles flag to be bareboat chartered out to a foreign corporation for parallel registration under the flag of another jurisdiction provided the law of the latter recognizes bareboat chartering.
Taxes
No taxes are levied on the earnings or profits from the operation of a Seychelles Flag vessel.
a) No income tax is payable on the profit by an offshore company, which owns ships under the Seychelles flag
and operates in international waters. Further no tax is payable on the dividend paid by such company
b) No tax is payable on the sale or transfer of a Seychelles vessel on the shares in her owning company
c) No estate duty is payable on the inheritance of shares of a Seychelles flag vessel owning offshore company.
d) No tax is payable on the salaries of officers and crew of Seychelles flag vessel which operates in
international waters
Conventions / Treaties
Seychelles has the unique advantage of being, at the same time:
• A member of the United Nations
• A member of the Commonwealth
• The group of non-aligned countries
• The O.A.U.
• The Indian Ocean Commission
And in this context, vessels flying the Seychelles flag receives friendly treatment world-wide.
Additionally, Seychelles is a member of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO).
Equipment and arrangements approved by other Maritime administration as complying with the IMO conventions are generally acceptable.
Registration / Documentation
For the registration of a vessel under Seychelles flag, the following documents will have to be submitted.
a) Application form
b) Declaration of ownership
c) Bill of Sale, bareboat charter or builders certificates
d) Resolution of corporation duly notarised and legalised
e) Deletion certificate or undertaking by owners to submit the same
f) Carving and making note
Upon appropriate qualification, the Registrar of ships, Republic of Seychelles or Maritime Commissioner will issue a provisional certificate of Registry valid for a period of 90 days. Extensions may be granted subject to approval with good reasons.
Upon receipt of all necessary documents, originals or certified true copies, by the Maritime Commissioner, the Registrar of Ships will issue the permanent certificate of Registry for the said vessel.
Survey
Vessels, which are below the age of 15 years, are eligible to apply appropriately for registration under Seychelles flag.
If the vessel exceeds the age limit, a seaworthiness certificate is required and surveys to the effect that the vessel is in satisfactory trading state and will comply with all class and/or statutory (Convention or Non-Convention) requirements can and will be met.
The following classification Societies have been appointment on behalf of the government of Seychelles as surveyors to carry out the functions of all aspects of survey and measurement, to use all relevant classification and/or statutory certificates for all vessels and for the purposes of the Merchant Shipping Act.
a) America Bureau of Shipping (ABS)
b) Bureau Veritas (BV)
c) Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (NKK)
d) Det Norske Veritas (DNV)
e) Lloyds
f) Germanischer Lloyd
g) Maritime Bureau (Seychelles) Ltd (MBS) (Our Affiliate Company. Fees are more competitive.)
REGISTRATION
a) Vessels have to be 15 years old or less. Vessels of 16/17 years may be considered subject to satisfactory
classification certificates and reports. Vessels older than this but having been entirely re-built in the last 5 years
and in class may be considered
b) All vessels must be in possession of valid convertion certificates:
(i) IOPP
(ii) International Fishing Vessel Safety Certificate (for fishing vessels)
(iii) International Tonnage Certificate
(iv) International Load Line Certificate
(v) Cargo handling gear Certificates
(vi) Safety Radio Certificate
(vii) Safety Construction Certificate
c) If criteria above is met. Vessel owners have to incorporate Seychelles Company to own vessel before certificate of
provisional/permanent registration is issued. The latter can be either a domestic or offshore company. Our firm
offers comprehensive company incorporation, secretarial and accounting services
d) Details of radios on board is needed for application of radio licence from Telecom Department
e) For fishing vessels, details of trading areas, refrigeration/cutting areas etc., needed for application of sanitary
licence from Seychelles Fishing Authority. All Seychelles Registered Fishing vessels have to obtain inter-alia
fishing licence from SFA, be fitted with a Vessel Monitoring System (VMS); call at an approved post for
transshipment of fish, and have to produce Annual catch records for auditing etc., Vessels have to respect all
International conventions on fishing
Mortgage
Mortgage may be recorded in the Register as when the ship is registered. This exercise can be accomplished upon presentation of the instrument of mortgage. In the case of a provisionally registered ship where the original title of ownership has not been submitted, the mortgage will only be recorded upon confirmation by the mortgage that the document has been sighted by him.
Manning
These are no restrictions on the nationality for crew on Seychelles flag vessels. There is a minimum of three certified deck officers (Master, Chief Officers and second officer) for vessels over 1600 Gross Registered tonnes. These is no mandatory minimum of ratings required for vessels over 3000KW, a minimum of these certified engineers is required (Chief engineer, second engineer and assistant engineer. Officers who hold certificates issued by the Republic of Seychelles or any Commonwealth country or certificates issued by a country, signatory to IMO and certified under the ambit of the STCW convention may be acceptable. Rating should have at least one year of sea-service or must have completed an approved basic safety course, plus six months of sea-service. Officers serving on tankers who do not have six months precious services on such type of vessel or hold appropriate endorsement must take a basic tanker safety course.
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