Flag State - Ship Register

Ship Register

Each flag state has a ship register in which all ships that sail under their flag need to be registered. Flag registers in certain countries are open to ships with owners in other countries, which leads to a large discrepancy between fleet nationality by ownership and by flag state. Several countries have more than one register;

• Denmark, France and Norway maintain an international register to compete with flags of convenience
• The different countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands are allowed to set up their own registers under the Dutch flag.
• Flag registers in China include Hong Kong and mainland China.
• Several territories/dependencies for which the United Kingdom has responsibility have their own register. Most notably the Isle of Man has a significant register.