Monday 25/November/2024 – 12:38 PM
Major General Khaled Saeed, Chairman of the Senate Housing Committee, reviewed the joint committee report from the Housing, Local Administration and Transport Committee and the Office of the Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee on a draft law submitted by the government amending some provisions of Law No. 84 of 1949 regarding the registration of commercial ships, November 2024.
Head of Al-Sheikh Housing: Amending the Ship Registration Law aims to facilitate the granting of Egyptian citizenship
This came during the plenary session of the Senate, headed by Counselor Abdel-Wahab Abdel-Razek, in the presence of representatives of the Ministry of Transport, specifically the maritime transport sector.
Representative Khaled Saeed said that the philosophy of the draft commercial ship registration law comes in light of the urgent need to improve maritime legislation to advance economic development and stimulate the maritime economy.
He pointed out that the amendment to the Maritime Trade Law aims to develop and enhance the size of the maritime commercial fleet, by expanding ships’ acquisition of Egyptian nationality, so that ownership is not limited to the sole reason for a ship to acquire Egyptian nationality, but rather new methods are added to acquire Egyptian nationality, such as bare and financial leasing, which would enhance The size of the commercial fleet that helps fill the financing gap in foreign currencies required for ship ownership activity, which is characterized by large investment and slow recovery of invested capital and return on it.
The draft law includes two articles other than the article of publication in the Official Gazette, as the first article of the draft law amendment includes replacing the text of Article 5 of the Maritime Trade Law promulgated by Law No. 8 of 1990. Article 5 clarifies the terms and conditions for a ship to acquire Egyptian nationality, stipulating that the ship be registered. In an Egyptian port, and owned by a natural or legal person with Egyptian nationality.
In this case, the assistance of a national ownership officer is sought. The article also included a provision granting Egyptian nationality to an unequipped ship as a charter party for a bareboat ship leased to a natural or legal person with Egyptian nationality, for the duration of the rental period and on the condition that the rental period is not less than two years.
The project granted Egyptian citizenship to the unequipped ship leased financially to a natural or legal person with Egyptian citizenship, for the duration of the lease. In all cases, it is not required for a ship to acquire Egyptian nationality that there be a certain Egyptian percentage in the company’s management or in its capital. The project made an exception to this in the case of joint ownership or multiple tenants of the ship, as it required that the majority of the shares owned or leased be Egyptians, due to the nature of common ownership.
According to the newly introduced amendments, the text allowed the suspension of the registration of the un-equipped Egyptian ship leased for the purpose of registering it under a foreign flag throughout the lease period, to add flexibility to the Egyptian maritime market, which requires facilitating the means of maritime exploitation based on the necessities and requirements of commercial operation.
The Senate Committee introduced amendments that included, without prejudice to the ownership rights of the unequipped foreign ship, the Egyptian charterer, in accordance with Clauses 2 and 3 of the first paragraph of this article, bears the responsibilities of the ship owner.
This amendment was consistent with the provisions of Article 12 of the United Nations Ship Registration Convention of 1986, which stipulates that if nationality is granted to an unequipped ship, the charterer must be considered the owner and without any prejudice to property rights.
The charterer is considered the owner, but this agreement does not entail granting any ownership rights in the chartered ship other than the rights stipulated in the charter party contract for the bareboat ship in question, and the State must ensure that any bareboat chartered ship that flies its flag is subject to its full jurisdiction and control.
The State in which the bareboat charter vessel is registered should also ensure that the previous flag State has notified the cancellation of the bareboat charter vessel registration.
The parties concerned are left free to contract on all terms and conditions, other than those stipulated in this article, relating to the relationship between the parties in the bareboat charter party.
