Noble Shipping Law

The Irish register of shippingThe Mercantile Marine Office, as part of the Department of Transport, is the national authority with responsibility for the registration of Irish ships.The administration of the procedure for the registration of ships and maintenance of the ship registry is assigned under s 23(1) of the Mercantile Marine Act 1955 (Ireland) (as amended, MMA 1955 (IRL)), to the chief officer of customs and excise at the ports of registry as appointed by the Revenue Commissioners.In Ireland, there are 13 designated ports of registry with registrars for each port as appointed by the Revenue Commissioners. The ports of registry are: Arklow, Cork, Drogheda, Dublin, Dundalk, Galway, Limerick, Skibbereen, Sligo, Tralee, Waterford, Westport and Wexford. Each port of registry maintains a Register Book. The combined registry details on the 13 Registry Books are collectively known as the Shipping Register.Ships registered on the Shipping Registry are known as Irish Ships.The registry is a record of legal ownership and the shares therein of a ship. There is no facility for a

This Practice Note considers the principal types of security that a lender may look to take in a ship finance transaction in Ireland.The types of security typically taken are:•a mortgage over a vessel•an assignment of insurances, earnings and requisition compensation•a parent company guarantee•a charge over shares, and•a charge over a bank accountThis Practice Note is relevant for finance for vessels that are registered on the Irish flag.Ship mortgageA primary source of security for a lender is a mortgage over the vessel which allows the lender, in case of default, to enforce its security through the power of possession and execute the sale of the vessel.In Ireland, a legal mortgage over a vessel registered on the Irish Register of Ships pursuant to the Mercantile Marine Act 1955 (Ireland) (MMA 1955 (IRL)) is created by the execution by the owner of the vessel of a statutory mortgage which is then registered with the relevant registrar.In Ireland, there are