Permalink : http://hdl.handle.net/2115/61068

JaLCDOI : 10.14943/bull.fish.66.1.47

KEYWORDS : Registration of ship;Ownership of ship;Bareboat charter;Far seas fishing vessel

According to the maritime norm, the nationality of ship is authorized with the registration of ship by the state concerned, and the ship registered is allowed to fly the flag of the state. The Japanese legislation for the registration of ship requires that the nationality of the ship shall be genuinely linked with the nationality of owner(s) of the ship, and does not allow a bareboat chartered-out vessel to the foreign state to temporarily terminate the registration of the ship in Japan. Under the regime of EEZ, many Japanese far seas fishing vessels(FSFVs) were decommissioned or forced to transfer of ownership to the coastal state if they wanted continuation of fishing operation in the EEZ of coastal states concerned, which led drastic reduction of Japanese FSFVs. The UN Convention of the Law of the Sea(1982) which stipulates the status of ships in Article 92 does not regulate the linkage between nationality and ownership of ship, and the United Nations Convention on Conditions for Registration of Ships(1986), while not in force, clearly recognizes the case of registration of the bareboat chartered-in ship. Some States(Canada, New Zealand, England, etc.) allow the bareboat chartered-in vessel to register it with their registration of ship. As the shortterm bareboat chartered-out would be one of breakthroughs for the plight of Japanese FSFVs loosing opportunity in the high seas, it is keenly requested that Japanese policy of ship registration allows temporary termination of the registration of Japanese ship for bareboat chartered-out.