Lloyd's Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly
THE NEW LUXEMBOURG SHIPPING REGISTER
Luc Frieden*
As of 1 January 1991, ships have been able to sail under the Luxembourg flag, for the Luxembourg Parliament has recently adopted a Law providing the EEC Member State Luxembourg with a shipping register. The move of the land-locked Grand Duchy of Luxembourg to register ships under its flag was inspired by the will to create a new European Register through a legal framework that attempts to avoid the disadvantages of the “flags of convenience” registers (insufficient safety, labour law and technical controls) and those of the traditional European shipping registers (too high costs). The Law1 takes into account the existence and opportunities offered by the Luxembourg banking and insurance sector and fully implements the core of the EEC Treaty,2 including the right of establishment and the free movement of persons, services and capital.
This article considers the most important legal provisions of the Law that has as its alleged goal to open a serious but nevertheless flexible shipping register.3 The article will (1) analyse the registration requirements for ships that intend to operate under the Luxembourg flag, (2) contemplate the mortgage system set out by the Law, (3) examine several tax aspects, (4) devote some attention to the labour law governing masters and seamen and (5) finally briefly consider some safety requirements.
1. Registration requirements
All ships4 that intend to operate under the Luxembourg flag have to register with the Record Keeper of Maritime Mortgages.5 Ships acquire Luxembourg nationality ab initio if they are owned more than 50% by either natural persons of Luxembourg
* Avocat, Bonn & Schmitt, Luxembourg.
1. Loi ayant pour object la création d’un registre public maritime luxembourgeois (hereinafter referred to as the “Law”): Mémorial A No. 58 of 12 November 1990. All references to Articles, unless otherwise specified, refer to the Law.
2. Treaty Establishing the European Economic Community, 25 March 1957, as amended, Arts. 48–73.
3. Preparatory works to the Law, p. 6. Together with the Law, the Luxembourg Parliament also approved many Conventions of the International Maritime Organization, the Inter-governmental Maritime Consultative Organization and the International Labour Organization: Loi du 9 novembre 1990 portant approbation de certaines conventions internationales en matière maritime.
4. With regard to the Law, ships include all vessels with a capacity of more than 25 tons that normally transport persons or goods on the high seas or carry out fishing, towing and any other lucrative maritime activity (Art. 8). Thus, yachts and other boats exclusively used for living purposes may not register under the Law.
5. Arts. 4, 10. The record-keeping office is called the “Bureau de la conservation des hypothèques maritimes”. The Law sets out in great detail the documents to be filed with that office (Art. 11). The Certificate of Registration is, however, issued by the Commissioner for Maritime Affairs (Arts. 15–17).
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