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I. OBJECTIVE

This Circular serves to provide rules that shall govern the registration and documentation of ships entitled to fly the Philippine flag subject to the laws of the Philippines.

This Circular also provides rules on the deletion of these ships from the Philippine Registry.

II. COVERAGE

These Rules shall apply to all types of ships operating in the Philippine waters regardless of size and utilization, whether with power or without power, including those ships below three (3) gross tonnage (GT), motorized or nonmotorized.

The following ships shall not be covered:

1. Warships and naval ships;
2. Ships of the Philippine Coast Guard;
3. All ships of foreign registry temporarily used in the Philippine waters; and,
4. Inflatable Boats used for rescue made of either a single or more rubber tubing.

III. DEFINITION OF TERMS

For purposes of this Circular, the following terms are defined:

1. “Administration” refers to the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA)
2. “Deletion” refers to the cancellation of a ship’s registry from the Register of Philippine Ships and termination of its trading status in the domestic shipping trade.
3. “Domestic Ownership” refers to the ownership vested in citizens of the Philippines or corporations, cooperatives or associations organized under the laws of the Philippines at least sixty percentum (60%) of the capital stock or capital of which is wholly by citizens of the Philippines.
4. “Homeport” refers to the port where the ship is registered.
5. “Miscellaneous Ship” refers to all other ships not falling under any classes of ship identified under Regulation I/5 paragraph 4.2 of the RPMMRR 1997, to include wing-in-ground (WIG), amphibian, submarine, hydrofoil, hovercraft, floating restaurants and tandem pushboat.
6. “Personal Water Craft (PWC)” also called water scooter, refers to a recreational watercraft that the person rides or stands on, rather than inside of, as in a boat. It is a jet drive boat less than 13 feet in length designed for two or three people or four passenger models.
7. “Port of Registry” refers to the port in the Philippines where the ship’s record of registry is being kept and maintained. It is likewise the homeport where the ship’s first entry into the registry was made.
8. “Ship Registration” refers to the documentation and authorization of a ship to sail under the Philippine flag.
9. “Ship or Vessel” (may be used interchangeably) refers to any kind, class or type of craft or artificial contrivance capable of floating in water, designed to be used, or capable of being used as a means of water transport in Philippine waters for the carriage of passengers or cargo, or both, utilizing its own motive power or that of another.
10. “Single or More Rubber Tubing (SMRT)” refers to the construction of an inflatable boats made of rubber and consists of a single tube for a banana boat used for pleasure, and for a rescue or similar boats, four inflatable tubes - two side tubes, a bow tube and a keelson tube. They have a rigid floor piece and a rigid transom for fitting an outboard motor.
11. “Special Purpose Ship” refers to a mechanically self-propelled ship which by reason of its function carries on board more than 12 special personnel including passengers. Special purpose ships to which these Rules and Regulation apply to type of ships mentioned in the said regulation to include Power Barges and Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit (MODU).
12. “Type of Ship” according to use or service refers to the classes of ships enumerated in Regulation I/5 of the Philippine Merchant Marine Rules and Regulations (PMMRR) 1997, as follows;

Class A. Passenger ships
Class B. Cargo ships
Class C. Tankers
Class D. Tugs and Dredgers
Class E. Fishing Vessels
Class F. Yachts
Class G. High Speed Crafts
Class H. Special Purpose ships
Class I. Miscellaneous Ships

Type of Ship, according to construction refers, to the grouping of ship based on its design, as enumerated in Appendix B of MARINA Administrative Order No. 07-12 dated 12 April 2012.

13. “Yacht” refers to any ship which is used for pleasure only, whether power driven or not, to include Personal Water Craft (PWC).

IV. GENERAL PROVISIONS

1. All ships of domestic ownership plying the Philippine waters, regardless of size and utilization must be properly registered and issued a Certificate of Philippine Registry (CPR) and Certificate of Ownership (CO). The forms of which are hereto attached as Annex “A” and “B”, respectively. Ships such as PWC, WIG, amphibian, submarine, hydrofoil, hovercraft, floating restaurants, tandem push boat and mobile offshore drilling unit (MODU) shall be registered and issued CPR and CO.
2. Ships acquired through bareboat charter under PD 760, as amended, shall be issued a temporary Certificate of Philippine Registry (CPR) co-terminus with the validity of the charter period as approved by MARINA. No Certificate of Ownership (CO) shall be issued.
3. Ships acquired through importation or bareboat chartering may be issued a Provisional Certificate of Philippine Registry (PCPR) in order to facilitate delivery of said ship from the country of origin to any port in the Philippines. The PCPR issued shall have fixed validities of a maximum of three (3) months or co-terminus with the approved Authority to Import (AI). For newly-built ships, the PCPR shall be issued for conduction purposes only. No PCPR shall be issued to ships operating under a Special Permit as provided in MARINA MC 105, as amended per MARINA MC 2011-04.
4. A registry of ships to be known as “Register of Philippine Ships” shall be maintained and kept open to free inspection by the public during regular office hours.
5. Ships registered under the Philippine Flag may be deleted from the Register of Philippine Ships under any of the circumstances enumerated in Section VI of this Circular and a Certificate of Deletion shall be issued effective on the date indicated in the certificate.
6. Any change and/or correction in the entries of the CPR/CO shall require reissuance of these certificates.
7. All owners/operators or charterers of Philippine-registered ships in the domestic trade shall be required to pay annual tonnage fee pursuant to MARINA Memorandum Circular Nos. 2008-05 and 2008-07, except for owners/operators or charterers of fishing vessels and non-motorized ships below three (3) GT.
8. Any ship which has been involved/used for smuggling or carriage/transport of illegal drugs as reported by the Philippine Coast Guard will not be issued Certificate of Philippine Registry and Certificate of Ownership

V. SPECIFIC PROVISIONS

A. Assignment of Name

1. A domestic shipowner/operator shall secure approval on the assignment of the proposed name of a ship, subject for registration.
2. The Administration through its Management Information Systems Office (MISO) shall approve the assignment of a name for a ship, provided such name has not been assigned nor borne by another ship.
3. The name of the ship shall be painted on each side of the bow and the homeport to be painted at the ship’s stern.

B. Assignment of Official Number and Marking of Ships

1. Every ship registered under this Circular shall be assigned an official number unique to each ship.
2. The official number shall consist of 10 (ten) characters, where the first two (2) characters refer to the Central Office or MRO where the ship is registered and the last seven (7) characters refers to the ascending number for ships registered, as follows: (See image: NAR Volume 24 No. 2, April to June 2013, p. 359)
3. The official number shall have the following specification:

   Material of Main Beam	Height (mm)	Depth (mm)	Width (mm)
   Wood	76.20	9.53 – 12.70	12.70
   Iron or other Metal	76.20	3.18 – 12.70	12.70

4. The official number assigned to a ship shall be carved or otherwise permanently marked in the main beam of the ship and together with the name shall appear on all ship documents.
5. For open-hulled ships, the assigned official number shall not be less than 25.4 mm in height and not less than 6.35 mm in width and shall be placed at the most accessible frame forward of the engine.

C. Register of Ships

1. The registration of ship for domestic trade shall be effected as follows:

   a)	Trampers - at the Central Office (CO) or the nearest MARINA Regional Office (MRO) where the company’s principal or branch office is located; or,
   b)	Liners - at the Central Office (CO) or the nearest MARINA Regional Office (MRO) where the company’s principal office is located, or any of the ports of call of the ship, provided the company has a branch office in that port of call.

2. The Register of Philippine Ships shall contain the following particulars;
   1. Name of Ship
   2. Former Names and Registry (if applicable)
   3. Type of Ship(service/construction)
   4. Call Sign
   5. Official Number
   6. IMO Number (if applicable)
   7. Material of Hull
   8. Principal Dimensions and Structure (Mast/Decks/Stem/Stern)
   9. Tonnage (Gross/Net/Deadweight)
   10. Class
   11. Speed
   12. Main engine
   13. Builders/Place of Built
   14. Year Built
   15. Name of Owner
   16. Name of former owner
   17. Mode of Acquisition (e.g, imported, bareboat chartered under PD 760, as amended, locally constructed, locally purchased)
3. MARINA Administrative Order No. 07-12 dated 12 April 2012 and its subsequent amendments covering the Guidelines on Filling Up, Maintenance, Safekeeping and Access to the Register of Philippine Ships is hereby adopted as an integral part of this Circular.
4. Errors made in recording entries in the Register shall be rectified as follows:
   1. Slight error/s not affecting the substance of the document, such as misspelled words, shall be corrected by the registrar or the designated officer by striking through the wrong entry/misspelled words and writing the correction above the errors and by affixing his initials beside the corrected entry or notation.
   2. Any error/s which might affect the meaning of the document may be corrected upon petition or upon notice filed by the concerned party. The correction shall be made by rewriting the entire line or lines right below where the error occurred. Said correction, together with a statement of the circumstances, shall be signed by the responsible officer.
   3. Errors made in copying shall not be erased. Instead, all required changes shall be effected in the manner described above.
5. Ship with incomplete details or has defaced engine block number shall not be registered, unless a clearance from a competent authority or proof of ownership of the engine is shown.

D. Re-issuance of CPR and CO

1. A new CPR and/or CO shall be re-issued under the following instances:

1. Lost or damaged Certificates
2. Change of Ownership
3. Change of Homeport
4. Change of Engine
5. Change of Ship’s name
6. Change of Business Name and/or company address
7. Change of Ship’s particulars
8. Change of Trading Area
9. Change of Type of Ship
10. No more space for annotation of mortgage
11. Corrections of Entry in the CPR/CO
12. Ship alteration

1. The buyer/transferee of a Philippine-registered ship shall, within fifteen(15) days from approval by the Administration of the sale/transfer of the ownership, secure a new CPR/CO subject to the provisions of Item V.C.1 of this Circular.
2. In case of judicial sale/award, the buyer/awardee shall secure a new CPR/CO within fifteen (15) days from the favorable endorsement by the Administration, subject to the provisions of Item V.C.1 of this Circular.
3. If there is a corresponding change of homeport as a result of the transfer of ownership, the buyer/transferee shall instead secure clearance to change homeport from the current homeport. The buyer/transferee shall, upon grant of the clearance by the current homeport, file an application for the issuance of a new CPR/CO in the new homeport.
4. If the buyer/transferee is a foreign national, the seller/transferor shall, within fifteen (15) days from the transfer, cause the deletion of the ship from the Register of Philippine Ship pursuant to the provision of Item VI of this Circular.

3. Change of Homeport

1. A homeport may be changed in any of the following instances:

   .1	change in ports of call or areas of operation of the ship; or
   .2	change of owner, operator or manager of the ship whose principal office or branch is located in another port/place.

2. Application for change of homeport shall be filed with the concerned MARINA Office where the ship is currently homeported, which shall issue the clearance.
3. No clearance for the change of homeport shall be issued under the following instances:

   .1	the company/owner has no branch office in the intended homeport;
   .2	there is an outstanding safety requirements/recommendation which the ship need to comply prior to the issuance of statutory certificates; and,
   .3	there is an unsettled obligation resulting from violation of MARINA rules and regulations and non-payment of tonnage fees.

4. Upon approval of the change of homeport, all records pertaining to the ship registration/documentation/safety certification shall be transmitted by the concerned MARINA Office in the current homeport to the MARINA Office in the new homeport.
5. In every case where a change of homeport of a ship is approved, a new CPR/CO shall be issued.

4. Change of Name

1. An application for change of ship’s name shall be filed with the MARINA Office where the ship is registered.
2. Assignment of new ship’s name shall comply with the provision of Item V.A.2 of this Circular.
3. In every case where a change of name of a ship is approved, a new CPR/CO shall be issued.

5. Ship alteration

1. When a registered ship is so altered as not to correspond with the particulars relating to her tonnage or registered dimensions contained in the Register of Philippine Ships, the shipowner/operator shall file an application to cause the alteration to be registered or direct that the ship be registered anew.
2. For the purpose of registering an alteration in a ship, the CPR and CO shall be submitted to the concerned MARINA Office where the ship s registered for the issuance of the new CPR and CO containing a description of the ship as altered.
3. The particulars of the alteration shall be entered in the Register of Philippine Ships by the concerned MARINA Office where the ship is registered.

E. Re-registration of a ship previously deleted from Philippine Registry

Re-registration of a ship previously deleted from the Philippine Registry shall be made upon filling of application for re-registration duly supported by required documents. Re-registration shall require the submission of the Certificate of Deletion (CD) for the subsequent issuance of new CO and CPR.

F. Transfer of Rights and Encumbrances

Any rights affecting the ship or the ownership thereof shall be registered in the Book of Transfer and Encumbrances provided the same is annotated in the CPR of the ship.

G. Validity of CPR

The Certificate of Philippine Registry (CPR) shall have no expiration except for the following:

1. ships acquired through bareboat charter under Presidential Decree No. 760, as amended, where the validity shall be co-terminus with the charter period as approved by MARINA;
2. motorbancas with or without an outrigger which are predominantly wooden-hulled and propelled mechanically where the validity is for five (5) years: and,
3. SMRTs, PWCs and ships below 3GT, motorized or non-motorized, where the validity is for five (5) years.

A. Ships registered under the Philippine flag shall be deleted from the Register of Philippine Ships under any of the following circumstances:

1. exportation of ship due to sale to foreign entity; or,
2. expiration of CPR of bareboat chartered ship; or,
3. ship breaking/ scrapping/ decommissioning of ship; or,
4. total loss as stipulated in a Marine Protest/Report; or,
5. non-operational for a period of five (5) years for WHS, PWC, submarines, amphibians and similar type of ships under the class of miscellaneous ships
6. when the Administration revokes approval of the charter/lease contract for a cause and after due process; or,
7. when the Administration, after due process, orders the deletion from the Philippine Registry of any ship found to have violated the government rules and regulation.

B. Issuance of Certificate of Deletion

A Certificate of Deletion, indicating the reason for the ship’s deletion from the registry, shall be issued upon submission of and compliance with all documents required under Item VII.B. of this Circular.

VII. DOCUMENTARY REQUIREMENTS

The following documentary requirements shall be complied with:

Documentary requirements stated in the preceding Item VII applies to reregistration of ships.

VIII. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE SHIPOWNERS/OPERATORS

The shipowner/operator of Philippine-registered ships shall have the following responsibilities;

1. Ensure that the appropriate and required tax/es are paid on its due date.
2. Secure the various licenses, safety certificates, and franchises, as applicable and appropriate for each ship.
3. Ensure timely renewal of such licenses, safety certificates, and franchises, prior to expiration and when applicable pay corresponding penalty and surcharge in case of late renewal.
4. Undertake all other obligations as stated in the provisions of the appropriate certificates, licenses, and franchise.
5. Payment of the Annual Tonnage Fee (ATF) based on the total gross tonnage operated fleet of the shipowner/operator.

IX. SCHEDULE OF FEES AND CHARGES ISSUANCE OF CPR

ADDITIONAL CHARGES

X. SCHEDULE OF FINES and PENALTIES/SANCTIONS

Applicable fines shall be imposed upon a shipowner/operator found to have violated any provisions of this Circular as stated in MARINA MC 120.

In addition, the following penalty shall apply:

If the ship owner failed to have the ship deleted from the registry under those circumstances stated in Section VI, said ship owner shall be watch listed for registration of any ship under his or his company’s name.

XII. TRANSITORY PROVISIONS

1. All shipowners/operators with ships previously registered with MARINA bearing alphanumeric official numbers are required to surrender the ships’ COs and CPRs for re-issuance of new COs and CPRs under this Circular.
2. All shipowners/operators of ships issued Certificate of Vessel Registry (CVR) and Provisional CVR (PCVR) are required to surrender the original CVRs/PCVRs for re-issuance of new COs and CPRs under this Circular.

All concerned shipowners/operators comply with the above cited provisions within six (6) months from the effectivity of this Circular.

XIII. REPEALING CLAUSE

The provisions of MC Nos. 90, 177 and Chapter XV of 1997 of PMMRR which are not inconsistent with this Circular are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

XIV. EFFECTIVITY

This MARINA Circular shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication once in a newspaper of general circulation.

BY AUTHORITY OF THE BOARD

(SGD.) ATTY. NICASIO A. CONTI
Officer-In-Charge, MARINA