Summary

With the registration of ships, the Flag State assumes the obligation to ensure compliance of the ships with international standards and the obligation to inspect this. In addition to public law, the registration of ships is also significant from the perspective of private law in the context of using ships for merchant shipping and commerce.
The authors outline the Estonian ship register system and highlight problems encountered in its operation. They argue that the right to fly a ship’s flag should only be a right and privilege but not an obligation as prescribed in the Estonian law. Further, the authors also point out that the procedure for the registration of ships is not compatible with the meaning of the register of ships as defined in the property law and that registration should not involve the function of supervision of maritime safety. In the authors’ opinion, the fact that the law prescribes the deletion of a ship from the register on specific grounds has an adverse effect on credit circulation. The legal remedies available for the mortgagee in such case are not sufficient. The authors also argue that the provisions regarding proof of the grounds for the deletion of a ship from the register and the procedure for the issue of authorisation for the registration of a ship in the register of another country are questionable. It is also a shortcoming that the Act does not contain provisions regarding shipping companies. The authors deal in depth with issues related to usufruct and contracts for the purchase and sale of ships.