Trustworthy agent for Polish registration?

[Sailingbluew]

I have signed a contract on a sailboat and now I need to find a place to register it. I will be sailing in the Pacific.

Poland seems to be the least hassle and okay priced. But there are so many different agents / sites.
Can anyone recommend a company that you or someone else used for the Polish registration?

[UnicornUnicorn]

Did mine with Jeroen Korthuis ,BlueWater Registration Services BV - about 3y ago - not cheapest but smooth transaction - they have a well organized webportal for all the processes and transactions.
Personal communication was working well with me from US.
I am not affiliated.
HTH

[barnakiel]

Unless you are a Polish citizen (NOT a resident, a citizen=holding a Polish passport), you may elect to refrain.


I have posted this at CF some time back already - there is a bill proposal now in Poland aimed to ban non-citizen boat ownership/registration. A friend who owns a boat and is lawyer and a Polish citizen told me just this about 6 months ago. I asked about and indeed there is a lobby of Polish lawyers requesting this.


The draft bill requests for cancellation of all non-citizen registrations to be rendered void too.


Mind same situation with Belgian and Dutch flag not too long ago. I think it is EU lawyers that push this on local govts. (maybe. just my guess)



You have been warned.


Cheers,
b.

[BM2023]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

...... there is a bill proposal now in Poland aimed to ban non-citizen boat ownership/registration. A friend who owns a boat and is lawyer and a Polish citizen told me just this about 6 months ago. I asked about and indeed there is a lobby of Polish lawyers requesting this.


The draft bill requests for cancellation of all non-citizen registrations to be rendered void too.

Curious to know more about the rumours, I contacted the maritime authorities in Poland. They formally confirmed that there is no draft of new legislation that has been submitted.

In any case, if in the future they would decide to change their requirements, they can not simply retract existing registrations, as the registrations do not have an expire date, like the ICP and Belgian registrations had. At the time they gradually got rid of the registrations that did not fulfil their new requirements, by not extending the registrations.

[UnicornUnicorn]

Flag of Convenience comes associated with political and other risk one should weigh in on. For one Poland is very polarized with East-West conflict meaning similar to passports there could be restrictions or hurdles with countries entry policies. Also Poland is very easy going with standards or I should say proof or enforcement which nice for boaters but could backfire if too many crappy boats take advantage and cause accidents forcing countries to upgrade requirements. Some of my 2cents not to derail OPs question or thread.

[Zonker]

So does a UK Part 1 registration provides proof that your boat is NOT crappy ? I can tell from experience, you can have a crappy bath tube and still fly the duster.

Originally Posted by UnicornUnicorn

Flag of Convenience comes associated with political and other risk one should weigh in on. For one Poland is very polarized with East-West conflict meaning similar to passports there could be restrictions or hurdles with countries entry policies. Also Poland is very easy going with standards or I should say proof or enforcement which nice for boaters but could backfire if too many crappy boats take advantage and cause accidents forcing countries to upgrade requirements. Some of my 2cents not to derail OPs question or thread.

[Montanan]

FYI: As to non-EU vessels imported or sold in the EU.

"As of 11th April 2023, the process of registering non-EU vessels in Poland has become more complicated and expensive, making the country less attractive as a flag state for non-EU yachts.
Previously, it was relatively simple to register a vessel in Poland that was coming from outside the EU and did not have a CE Declaration of Conformity. All that was required was a Certificate of Deletion from the non-EU flag state, a survey, and a technical data sheet issued by the shipyard or other formal document stating the basics of the vessel.

However, the Polish government has recently introduced changes to these regulations, meaning that non-EU vessels without a CE Declaration of Conformity will now have to undergo a physical compliance assessment before the application for registration can be submitted. This assessment involves a notified body conducting an extensive survey to determine if a CE Declaration of Conformity can be issued. This process can cost between €7000 and €10000, depending on the type of vessel and measurements."

Reference link:

https://lorrendraaier.nl/poland/registering-non-eu-vessels-in-poland-new-regulations-and-requirements/

[Montanan]

It works fine for me. Copy paste go.

Try this: https://lorrendraaier.nl/poland/regi...-requirements/

[Zonker]

Sorry ... even copy & paste is sometimes difficult ... :-)

[Montanan]

Originally Posted by Zonker

Sorry ... even copy & paste is sometimes difficult ... :-)

I should have embedded the link address instead of copying and posting. Sorry for making it not a double click.

All the best.

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by BM2023

Curious to know more about the rumours, I contacted the maritime authorities in Poland. They formally confirmed that there is no draft of new legislation that has been submitted.

In any case, if in the future they would decide to change their requirements, they can not simply retract existing registrations, as the registrations do not have an expire date, like the ICP and Belgian registrations had. At the time they gradually got rid of the registrations that did not fulfil their new requirements, by not extending the registrations.

https://www.ft.com/content/ba93ed0d-...c-cd8bb3f3938f


No further comment from me.


Time will show if your source was correct or mine. It might as well be all wrong what my Polish lawyer and sailor friend told me. People do lie at times. They also claim to be someone they actually are not.



And btw you are completely wrong about lawmakers of any country not being in the position, and capacity, to reverse local laws. This has been done in numerous cases in the past. Just google some and you will see.


My bet is on my source being spot on, and Polish convenience flag becoming a thing of the past very soon, just as it was the case with Dutch and Belgian flags.


Take care. Register locally.
barnakiel

[Zonker]

It's all about business. A gov is always happy to cash in the VAT of a vessel. Also you have to renew MMSI - so they have everything under control.


And if you own the boat via a EU "ghost" company, it's very simple to get most of the EU countries registration.

[BM2023]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

https://www.ft.com/content/ba93ed0d-...c-cd8bb3f3938f

My bet is on my source being spot on, and Polish convenience flag becoming a thing of the past very soon, just as it was the case with Dutch and Belgian flags.
barnakiel

The Dutch flag, was actually not the Dutch flag. It concerned an un-official registration in the Netherlands, that did not give the vessel the Dutch nationality. Formally, you were not even permitted to fly the Dutch flag, at the time. The ICP, as it was called, was issued by the Watersportverbond, translated the ‘the water sport association’.

EU and EFTA citizens can still register their vessel in the official ships register of the Netherlands, and non-EU citizens can also do so, but then only for vessels navigating the internal waters of Europe.

[Zonker]

>> EU and EFTA citizens



Are you sure it's not EEA instead of EFTA ?


EEA = Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway
EFTA = Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland


Could you provide a reference which confirms EFTA ?


Thanks in advance.

Originally Posted by BM2023

The Dutch flag, was actually not the Dutch flag. It concerned an un-official registration in the Netherlands, that did not give the vessel the Dutch nationality. Formally, you were not even permitted to fly the Dutch flag, at the time. The ICP, as it was called, was issued by the Watersportverbond, translated the ‘the water sport association’.

EU and EFTA citizens can still register their vessel in the official ships register of the Netherlands, and non-EU citizens can also do so, but then only for vessels navigating the internal waters of Europe.

[BM2023]

Originally Posted by Zonker

Could you provide a reference which confirms EFTA ?

No, as I would have to "struggle" through the maritime law. I have however registered a number of vessels in the Dutch register, owned and operated by Swiss passport holders.