(1) Whenever a ship is owned wholly by persons qualified to own a registered Saint Lucian ship, that ship shall be registered in the manner provided in this Part unless the ship is —
(a) registered in some other country;
(b) recognized by the law of a country other than Saint Lucia as a ship of that country, and is by the law of that country exempted from registration;
(c) under subsection (2), exempted from registration under this Act;
(d) required to be licensed and operates solely within Saint Lucian waters; or
(e) exempt from being licensed.
(1A) Subject to subsection (1B), whenever a foreign ship is customarily engaged in international trade or is on demise charter, that ship shall be registered in the manner provided in this Part.
(Inserted by Act 14 of 2016)
(1B) A ship shall not be registered in the manner provided in this Part where —
(a) the ship does not engage in international trade;
(b) the registration does not facilitate Saint Lucia's participation in international trade;
(c) the registration does not facilitate the long term growth of the Saint Lucian shipping industry;
(d) the registration does not promote the enhancement and viability of the Saint Lucian maritime skills base and industry;
(e) a collective agreement relating to the crew of the ship has not been made between the owner of the ship and the ship's seafarers' bargaining unit;
(f) the owner of the ship has not consented to the registration of the ship in Saint Lucia;
(g) a mortgagee of the ship has not consented to the registration of the ship in Saint Lucia;
(h) the tonnage of the ship cannot be ascertained in accordance with any Regulations made under this Act relating to tonnage;
(i) the ship cannot be marked in accordance with section 36;
(j) the ship is precluded by some other law to which it is subject from flying Saint Lucia's national colours in accordance with section 103;
(k) the demise charter has an unexpired period of less than 2 years at the date when the application to register the ship is made; or
(l) it is not in the interest of Saint Lucia that the ship should be registered in Saint Lucia.
(2) The Minister may by notice, made by statutory instrument, exempt generally or specifically from registration under this Act, a licensed Saint Lucian ship or a class thereof or a ship or a class of ship that is required to be licensed, when operating outside Saint Lucian waters.
(3) Subject to section 3, every Saint Lucian ship, and every Saint Lucian Government ship shall be registered in one of the register books kept under section 21 and registration shall be effected in accordance with this Act.
(4) If the master of any ship which is owned wholly by persons qualified to own a registered Saint Lucian ship or a licensed Saint Lucian ship fails, on demand, to produce the certificate of registration or the licence as the case may be, of the ship or such other evidence as satisfies the Minister that the ship complies with the requirements of subsection (1), that ship may be detained until that evidence is produced.
(5) Any ship which is wholly owned by persons qualified to own a Saint Lucian ship, and which immediately before the commencement of this Act, is registered in Saint Lucia in accordance with the Merchant Shipping Act of the United Kingdom, 1894, is entitled to be registered under this Act, but subject to such conditions as may be prescribed.
(6) A ship required to be registered or licensed under this Act shall not be recognised as a Saint Lucian ship and is not entitled to the rights and privileges accorded to Saint Lucian ships under this Act unless it is so registered or licensed.
(7) Where the Minister has reason to believe that there is some doubt as to the title of any ship registered under this Act, he or she may direct the Registrar of Ships to require that evidence be given to the Minister's satisfaction that the ship is entitled to be so registered; and where, within such time as may be prescribed by the Minister, not being less than 30 days, evidence to the satisfaction of the Minister of the title of the ship is not given, the ship is liable to be de-registered.
(8) The Minister may make regulations for the purpose of giving full effect to this section, and in particular for matters relating to the obligation to register ships and failure to comply with it.