Swedish Flag

[craig42]

Hello

We have bought a boat in St Martin and as my wife is Swedish, we want to register the boat under a Swedish flag. Does anyone know who we would contact to do this?

Thanks

Craig

[Unicorn Dreams]

Try here, they will point you in the right direction if all else fails,

Swedish Coastguard Headquarter Harnosand
Tel. +46 611 335550 (h24)
Email vb.krln@coastguard.se

[craig42]

Great, thanks

Craig

[andreas.mehlin]

Hi!

I don't think the coastguards are the right one to ask those things about.

If the vessel is bigger than 12x4 meter it will be classified as a "ship". All ships need to be registred and it is "Transportstyrlesen" who does that in Sweden.
You can visit Start - Transportstyrelsen

Unfort. the cost has increased by over 1000% this last year.

If it is NOT more than 12x4 meter...then you could register it in SXK (sxk.se). They can also give you certificate of nationality of the boat. The cost is very low.

[svrodeorm]

additional info-

the vessel must be owned to a minimum of 50% by a Swedish citizen or a swedish registered corporation.

Good luck with it!

[hoppy]

How big is the boat?

If it is longer than 12 meters AND wider than 4 meters, then the boat must be registered on the Swedish shipping registry Sjöfart - Transportstyrelsen

If the boat is smaller in one of those measurements (mine is 12.2m x 3.95m so it just scraped in) then it is classified as a "fritidsbåt" (pleasure craft) and it does not need to be registered. In this case you apply for an international certificate from The Swedish Crusing Club (Svenska Kryssarklubben)

Either way you need to get a VHF licence from PTS (PTS - Maritim radio)

If your boat is larger than 12x4 then getting it registered can be "fun".. In theory they want you to pay someone with a tape measure to go from Sweden to your boat to measure it However if it is a production boat and a sistership has been measured and registered here, then they can be reasonable and use the other boats measurements :d

good luck

[hoppy]

wow I was a bit slow with my typing

[barnakiel]

Contact your sailing club in Sweden and they will advise. Take the yellow (international) registration along with the club one.

We got all our paperwork via SXK.

Svenska Kryssarklubben

b.

[SvenG]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

Svenska Kryssarklubben

We've been talking about doing this too but there are implications ?

I think we'd have to file paperwork to stay more than X months in US territorial waters, for example ?



BTW, the Swedish Cruising Club is the largest in the world by member count, 40,000+.



-Sven

[craig42]

Thanks for all the help. We will check everything out.

Craig

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by SvenG

We've been talking about doing this too but there are implications ?

I think we'd have to file paperwork to stay more than X months in US territorial waters, for example ?

You would have to ask the US govt for this.

We have a standard International Certificate for Pleasure Craft issued in Sweden.

We have never had any issue anywhere in the world, nor should we expect any as this is what all Swedish boats have when they go outside Scandinavia. Within our region the small (club) registration is sufficient.

A friend of ours whose boat was 46' had her registered with the commercial registrar, but I cannot say if this was obligatory or his particular case (e.g. charter boat). You ask at SXK and they will explain this too.

Cheers,
b.

[SvenG]

Craig,

Originally Posted by craig42

Thanks for all the help. We will check everything out.

Could you post your findings back here ?

The only reason we haven't done this is because of the possibility that we'd be treated (and be) a foreign vessel in US waters as long as we stay here. When we cast off this fall it may no longer be an issue.



-Sven

[hellosailor]

Sven-
"I think we'd have to file paperwork to stay more than X months in US territorial waters, for example ?"
Any foreign flagged vessel will need to apply for a cruising permit to enter US waters. That is good for one year, and then you must leave US waters for 15(?) days before you can re-apply for another permit, which may or may not be granted.

[jsalvata]

Hi hoppy,

Originally Posted by hoppy

If the boat is smaller in one of those measurements (mine is 12.2m x 3.95m so it just scraped in) then it is classified as a "fritidsbåt" (pleasure craft) and it does not need to be registered. In this case you apply for an international certificate from The Swedish Crusing Club (Svenska Kryssarklubben)

I recently obtained the SXK certificate for my boat, but I have now been told that this certificate does not give the right to flag the Swedish flag unless you have 50% of Swedish citizens onboard.

Was that your case? Have you heard about this limitation? Were you flying a Swedish flag in your travels? Did you ever have any issue?

Thanks a lot for sharing your experience.

Regards,

Jordi

[hoppy]

Originally Posted by jsalvata

Hi hoppy,



I recently obtained the SXK certificate for my boat, but I have now been told that this certificate does not give the right to flag the Swedish flag unless you have 50% of Swedish citizens onboard.

Was that your case? Have you heard about this limitation? Were you flying a Swedish flag in your travels? Did you ever have any issue?

Thanks a lot for sharing your experience.

Regards,

Jordi

I am a dual citizen, so it was no problem for me. Not sure how it works for foreign citizens