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My modules›M15 Law and watchkeeping›24. Spanish ship registry and clearance

Spanish ship registry and clearance

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Law and watchkeeping

Two registers and the lists

Spain keeps two ship registers that do different jobs. One identifies and controls ships, the other protects ownership. Ships are sorted into numbered lists.

Decide

Question 1/1

A bank holds a security right over a Spanish recreational yacht. Where must it be entered for the bank to enforce it against third parties?

The lesson in plain words

  1. Two registers
    • Spain keeps two registers for ships.
    • The Registro de Buques y Empresas Navieras (Register of Ships and Shipping Companies) is run by the maritime administration, meaning the Dirección General de la Marina Mercante and the local Capitanías Marítimas.
    • It identifies Spanish ships and keeps administrative control of them (Ley 14/2014, the Maritime Navigation Act, art. 65.2).
  2. The property register
    • The Registro de Bienes Muebles (Movable Property Register) has a ships section, the Sección de Buques.
    • It records who owns a ship and what encumbrances, such as a mortgage, are registered against her, so that these legal relationships are secure (Ley 14/2014, art. 65.1).
    • The two registers must coordinate their entries (Ley 14/2014, art. 66).
  3. Same act, two purposes
    • The administrative register also notes ownership transfers and mortgages, but to identify the ship.
    • Legal protection lies with the Sección de Buques (RDL 2/2011, art. 251.2; Ley 14/2014, art. 65.1).
    • RDL 2/2011 is the Ports and Merchant Marine Act, a Real Decreto Legislativo, which is a decree with the force of law.
  4. Entry in the property register
    • As a rule, every Spanish-flag ship must be entered in the Sección de Buques (Ley 14/2014, art. 69.1).
    • For public ships and recreational craft, entry is optional.
    • But a mortgage or other security right on a recreational ship or craft counts against third parties, meaning people who were not party to it, only if it is entered there (Ley 14/2014, art. 69.2).
  5. Buque and embarcación
    • Ley 14/2014 uses two words. A buque has a continuous deck and is 24 m or longer (Ley 14/2014, art. 56).
    • An embarcación has no continuous deck, or is shorter than 24 m (Ley 14/2014, art. 57).
    • In this unit, ship means buque, craft means embarcación, and vessel means either one.
  6. The lists
    • The Registro de Buques y Empresas Navieras is kept in numbered listas (RD 1027/1989, art. 4).
    • List 1 is offshore platforms and support ships.
    • List 2 is passenger and cargo ships. List 3 is fishing ships.
    • List 4 is fishing and fish-farm auxiliary ships.
    • List 5 is harbour tugs and craft.
    • List 6 is recreation for profit, list 7 recreation not for profit.
    • List 8 is for public bodies.
    • List 9 is a provisional list for ships under construction.

Key data

Buque (Ley 14/2014, art. 56)
Continuous deck and length of 24 m or more
Embarcación (Ley 14/2014, art. 57)
No continuous deck, or shorter than 24 m
Lists 2 and 3 (RD 1027/1989, art. 4)
List 2 passenger and cargo; list 3 fishing
Lists 6 and 7 (RD 1027/1989, art. 4)
Recreation: list 6 for profit, list 7 not for profit
Sección de Buques entry
Compulsory as a rule (Ley 14/2014, art. 69.1)
Public ships, recreational craft
Entry optional (Ley 14/2014, art. 69.2)

Key points

  • The Registro de Buques is for administrative control. The Sección de Buques protects ownership and mortgages.
  • The administrative register notes transfers and mortgages only to identify the ship.
  • An unentered security right on a recreational vessel does not count against third parties.
  • A buque needs both a continuous deck and at least 24 m. A vessel lacking either is an embarcación.
  • List 2 is passenger and cargo, list 3 fishing, list 6 recreation for profit, list 7 not for profit.

Check what you have read

Question 1/3

A Spanish 14 m sailing yacht is used only for her owner's leisure, with no profit. Which list of the Spanish ship register is she in?

True or false?

Decide each statement before you see the answer.

  1. List 2 is passenger and cargo, list 3 fishing, list 6 recreation for profit, list 7 not for profit.

  2. Any vessel of 24 m or more is a buque.

  3. An unentered security right on a recreational vessel does not count against third parties.

  4. The administrative register notes transfers and mortgages only to identify the ship.

  5. Entry in the Sección de Buques is optional for a yacht, so an unentered mortgage still binds everyone.

  6. The Registro de Buques y Empresas Navieras is where a ship's title and mortgages get their legal protection.

Practice case & exam keys

Situation

A bank lends money on a Spanish 20 m recreational yacht used for charter at a profit, with a mortgage noted only in the Registro de Buques y Empresas Navieras. Is the yacht a buque or an embarcación? Which list applies? Can the bank rely on its mortgage against third parties?

Show the answer

At 20 m she is an embarcación, because a buque is 24 m or longer (Ley 14/2014, arts. 56–57). Recreation for profit is list 6 (RD 1027/1989, art. 4). The bank's note in the administrative register only identifies the ship (RDL 2/2011, art. 251.2). To count against third parties, the mortgage must be entered in the Sección de Buques of the Registro de Bienes Muebles (Ley 14/2014, art. 69.2).

Exam keys

  1. Administrative register: Registro de Buques y Empresas Navieras (Ley 14/2014, art. 65.2). Property register: Sección de Buques, Registro de Bienes Muebles (Ley 14/2014, art. 65.1).
  2. Ley 14/2014: art. 56 buque, art. 57 embarcación, art. 69 entry in the property register.
  3. Lists: RD 1027/1989, art. 4; lists 1 to 5 for work, 6 and 7 for recreation, 8 public bodies, 9 provisional.

Finish this unit

When you've read it, answer three questions. Get all three right to finish the unit; opening the page alone doesn't count.

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