Spanish ship registry and clearance

The lesson in plain words

1. When express applies
   • Some departures need a decision first.
   • RONM (the navigation regulation, RD 186/2023) art. 7.1 starts with ships that could be a danger to people, property or the environment because of something that happened before entering port or during the port stay.
   • Examples are a collision or grounding on the way in (RONM art. 7.1.b), and a lifted provisional immobilisation (RONM art. 7.1.ñ).
   • That last case excepts fishing vessels when the fisheries authority imposed and lifted the measure.
2. Ships bound abroad
   • The list in RONM art. 7.1 also names Spanish-flag ships bound for a foreign port (RONM art. 7.1.o).
   • Read with the opening words of RONM art. 7.1 and with RONM art. 15, the text does not settle whether that covers every such ship, so ask the Capitanía Marítima, the local maritime office.
   • RONM art. 7.1 lists other cases too: read the whole article before you choose a route.
3. Other express cases
   • Ships at the end of their useful life need it (RONM art. 8).
   • So do private rescue vessels, which the Director General de la Marina Mercante clears (RONM art. 10).
   • Recreational cases are in RONM art. 9.1: (a) a temporary change from private to commercial use, up to three consecutive months in the calendar year, for a list 7 craft.
   • (b) a one-off voyage or activity different from the authorised one.
   • (c) the first clearance of a foreign-flag craft on nautical charter in Spanish maritime spaces.
4. Filing and deciding
   • File at least 48 hours before your estimated departure time (RONM art. 11.2).
   • A defective request gets 10 days to be corrected.
   • A complete request is decided within 48 hours (RONM art. 11.3).
   • If the administration neither decides nor notifies in that time, the request counts as refused (RONM art. 12.2).
5. Refusal
   • The administration can refuse clearance only for a legal or regulatory reason, by court order, or when another authority asks (Ley 14/2014, the Maritime Navigation Act, art. 18.2).
   • It must refuse for a breach of safety or pollution rules (RONM art. 12.1) and for a ship immobilised by a court or another authority (RONM art. 18.3).
   • The refusal states its reasons, and the ship cannot leave.
   • You can appeal to the Director General de la Marina Mercante, by recurso de alzada (RONM art. 12.3).
6. Documents
   • Filing needs the general declaration, crew list, passenger list where required and FAL forms, the standard international forms for a port call (RONM art. 11.4).
   • The rol de despacho y dotación shows a Spanish ship's voyage and crew, and that she sailed after meeting the clearance requirements (RONM art. 19.1).
   • On board: registration certificate, Patente, rol, Diario de Navegación, Cuaderno de Máquinas, Cuaderno de Bitácora if required, and insurance certificates (Ley 14/2014, art. 78).

Step by step

Choosing the route for one departure

1. 1Check exemptions and the ship's scope first. Some vessels fall outside the RONM (RONM art. 2.2), and some private craft need no clearance (RONM art. 2.3).
2. 2Check for an express trigger in RONM arts. 7–10. An express case rules out autodespacho (RONM art. 13.3).
3. 3If express, file at least 48 hours before your estimated departure time (RONM art. 11.2). Once the request is complete, the administration has 48 hours to decide (RONM art. 11.3). If it neither decides nor notifies, the request is refused (RONM art. 12.2).
4. 4If not, check the simplified list in RONM art. 15.2. A listed ship files a declaration without handing over the exit documents (RONM art. 15.1).
5. 5Otherwise, file the general regime documents and declaration. Clearance takes effect on electronic filing (RONM art. 11.1).
6. 6Update the rol de despacho y dotación before sailing. Changes must reach the administration before departure, or within 24 hours if you are at sea (RONM art. 20).

Key data

Key points

• An express request goes in 48 hours ahead; no decision within 48 hours of a complete request means refusal.
• A grounding on the way in that could make a ship a danger is an express case: no autodespacho.
• RONM art. 7.1.o names Spanish ships bound abroad, but the text leaves its reach open: ask the Capitanía.
• A refusal gives its reasons and stops the ship; the appeal goes to the Director General.
• The rol de despacho y dotación shows the voyage and the crew.

Check what you have read

True or false?

Practice case & exam keys

Exam keys

1. 1Express: RONM arts. 7–10; filing RONM art. 11.2; decision RONM art. 11.3; silence is refusal, RONM art. 12.2.
2. 2Documents to file: general declaration, crew list, passenger list where required, FAL forms (RONM art. 11.4).
3. 3Refusal: reasoned decision, stops departure, recurso de alzada to the Director General (RONM art. 12).
4. 4Rol de despacho y dotación: voyage and crew (RONM arts. 19–20). On board: Ley 14/2014, art. 78.