The Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) has eased regulations on acquiring vessels in order to encourage investors to obtain and register vessels under the Philippine flag.
Marina Circular No. 2015-01, dated January 29, amends Memorandum Circular (MC) 182, or the Rules in the Acquisition of Ships under Presidential Decree (PD) No. 760, as amended. It also provides the Implementing Rules under Chapter XV of the 1997 Philippine Merchant Marine Rules and Regulations (PMMRR) on Registration, Documentation and Licensing of Ships for International Voyages.
Under the new circular, companies which qualify to enter into a bareboat charter will be allowed to acquire and register up to 20 ships under the Philippine flag. MC No. 182 only allows up to 10 ships.
With this development, companies with more than 10 ships and up to 20 vessels are required a paid-up capital of P15 million. Marina retained the P7 million paid-up capital for companies with owned ships and P10 million for companies with 10 vessels or less.
Moreover, the bond requirement under MC No. 182 V.14 shall be submitted to Marina as a post-approval documentary requirement within 30 days of Marina’s issuing the letter approval of the bareboat charter application.
Section V. 14 of MC 182 required companies with bareboat chartered ships deposit, in favor of Marina, P100,000 per ship with any reputable commercial bank. Marina said this is “to answer for the payment of the 4.5% withholding tax, fines and penalties due the government in the event that company fails to settle the same upon deletion of the ship from the Philippine Registry.”
In addition, companies must also post a surety bond per ship equivalent in amount to the cash bond. Once the ship is deleted from the Philippine registry, the amount may be withdrawn upon submission of the proof of payment of all taxes or penalties connected with the registration. Ship-owning companies are exempt from this requirement for their bareboat chartered ships.
Marina also issued an additional documentary requirement for those applying for an extension of the bareboat charter for less than one year as specified under Item V.3 of MC No. 182. The additional documents include a letter of intent and consent from the registered owner.
The amendments took effect on February 13.
One of Marina’s goals until 2016 is for the Philippine registry to be an attractive, quality and strong sovereign flag of choice for ship owners. – Roumina Pablo
Image courtesy of khunaspix at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
