Importing a Boat to Australia

[Wojo]

Originally Posted by Nauticatarcher

State registration has nothing to do with offshore travel, you need to speak to Australian Maritime Safety Authority in Canberra, even once you arrive back in Australia with an Australian registered vessel you will still have to register it in the state you keep it

Thanks Nauticatarcher.....I should have rung AMSA first. I told her exactly what I was doing and all the other issues I was concerned about.

Oh well bloody public servants..lol

[Whimsical]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

There is a very clear set of guidelines in registering a boat when you buy it overseas. Its going to take at least a month after you have actually bought your boat to get your paperwork through because after your application has gone in you need to send by snail mail photos of the name and registration painted on the back of your boat. then they send a letter back by snail mail confirming it all. Of course you can not do the painting till you have already totally completed the foreign transaction and been given the keys to your new boat - and will cost you another haul out to paint on the words! Dinghy art not accepted!

This is what Photoshop was written for
Not hard to do from a dingy, just get a vinyl guy to cut a spray mask.

Mike

[Nauticatarcher]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

There is a very clear set of guidelines in registering a boat when you buy it overseas. Its going to take at least a month after you have actually bought your boat to get your paperwork through because after your application has gone in you need to send by snail mail photos of the name and registration painted on the back of your boat. then they send a letter back by snail mail confirming it all. Of course you can not do the painting till you have already totally completed the foreign transaction and been given the keys to your new boat - and will cost you another haul out to paint on the words! Dinghy art not accepted!

Mark

Sorry not quite correct, you have to provide what is called a marking note which shows the boat has been marked with registration number in a way that is not easily changed , usually carved onto a substantial deck beam, but can also be an engraved plate as long as it is not easilyb removed, eg screw heads have to be filled, also all previous registration Marks have to be removed or covered, as to name on Transom that is personal choice and easiest way is stick on computer cut , Mark is right about all this going back to admiralty law though and as such is based on some of the oldest legislation out there

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by Nauticatarcher

Sorry not quite correct,

Oh well thats what the guy at AMSA told me on the phone. Wojo is ringing him today so he can report back.
Thats the other point... make a mistake with this stuff and it takes a few days to find out and fix

Other plesant bit to remember is the extra cash for fun government expenses!
Pleasure craft; fishing vessel; government ship; commercial ship less than 24 metres in tonnage length.

$799

[viking69]

Here is the email response i gopt from amsa thismorning.


Thank you for your email. You are aboe to sail the vessel to Australia under foreign registration but this is not an ideal situation and there may be implications (Australian Customs etc) and you would have to prove ownership of the vessel to the appropriate authorities. If you are able to register the vessel on the Australian Register prior to sailing, this would be the preferred option.

In answer to your question, if the vessel is Australian owned then, yes, you will have to register it on the Australian Shipping Register. The required forms can all be found on our website www.amsa.gov.au -click on Shipping Registration tab, then Forms. You will find the four forms required under 'Application for Registration' (if you are unable to provide the Builders certificate, you can use the Statutory Declaration form found under the heading 'Other Forms'). Information on how to complete the forms can be found by clicking on to 'guides' on the left hand side of the page.

Please send in the following:

• Notice of Appointment of Registered Agent form
• Application for Registration of an Australian Ship form
• Builders Certificate, or a Statutory Declaration if the original is not available
• Declaration of Ownership and Nationality

AND Original Bill of Sale, or a certified true copy

Upon receipt of all the documentation listed above, your vessel can then be registered on the Australian Shipping Register. You will then be required to Mark your ship in due course (we will send you instructions on this) and once this is done your Registration Certificate will be issued. Fees are required to be paid when the documentation is sent in to this office: Permanent Registration AUD $$799.00. You may pay these fees by Creditcard, Money Order, or Cheque (made out to AMSA).

If you have any questions or require any further information please let me know.

Kind regards

Fiona Martin
Deputy Registrar of Ships
Shipping Registration Office
Australian Maritime Safety Authority
GPO Box 2181
Canberra City
ACT 2601

P: 02 6279 5925
F: 02 6279 5922

[Therapy]

So there is 800 bucks off the top.

Did you Aussies get your govt crap from us Americans?

Sheesh!!

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by Therapy

Did you Aussies get your govt crap from us Americans?

Sheesh!!

We have a Free Trade Agreement with you Americans but we still pay taxes to get stuff from you

The FTA is probably a conspiracy of government employees in both countries to make more paperwork therefore ensuring their own jobs

[Wojo]

yep , I rung AMSA and got the same response that Vicking 69 got...they would prefer the boat registered. which of course is exactly what I am going to do. She promised me that, as of today, they can complete the whole process in under a week (she said 2 or 3 days.) That is of course if all the paperwork is correct and all the signatures are in place.
Marking the boat as per Shipping Registration Regulations 20.(they can paint her while she is still in the water.)

ahhhh its all good...

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by Wojo

ahhhh its all good...

chalk one up for the good guys

[magico]

Toi find the boat was not a problem, the broker in the US are good and mostly honest. The cost is per cubic feet/meter. The transporter was great, except the forgot the boat in the US originally, in any case they refund me 3k for their mistake. The gentleman Richard was fantastic.

Where is goes wrong is with the importer...Import-a-boat from the USA to Australia, dishonest, mean and nasty, no help at all, overmeasured the boat, charged me an extra 1600aud, then when i was complaining wanted to shoot me in the head, do not deal with those people with a 10 foot pole.

Rgds

[ishka]

Hey there all. This is my first post but seeing as I am sitting in a marina in Miami waiting for AMSA to finalize my Oz rego so I can sail this (bargain) back home I thought it it was the right time to say G'day. After I have finished this adventure(2 years min) I will let you know if it was profitable.

[GordMay]

WELCOME aboard, ishka.
Are you the Crafts Shop, or just super-cool ?

[ishka]

Sorry but I'm not crafty enough or cool enough to know what you mean.

[hbey54]

I am looking to impor a Sea Ray 44ft from the States which I can buy for $us105k I realise that I have to pay GST on the purchase and transport cost but what do you mean by improvements as the purchase price includes everything on the boat.

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by hbey54

what do you mean by improvements as the purchase price includes everything on the boat.

If you buy the boat for $105k you pay GST on that. If you then buy a jetski for that boat for $45k you pay GST for that too. And perhaposduty of 5%

So in other words the total you paid.