CONVENTION RELATING TO REGISTRATION OF RIGHTS IN RESPECT OF VES-SELS UNDER CONSTRUCTION, 1967
CONVENTION RELATING TO REGISTRATION OF RIGHTS IN RESPECT OF VES-SELS UNDER CONSTRUCTION, 1967
Whole document
The Contracting parties,
Having recognized the desirability of determining by agreement certain
rules relating to registration of rights in respect of ships under
construction.
Have decided to conclude a convention for this purpose, and thereto
agreed as follows:
Article 1
The Contracting States undertake that their national law shall contain
provisions permitting the registration in accordance with the provisions
of this Convention, in an official public register established by or under
the control of the State, of the rights set out in Article 5 in respect of
vessels which are to be or are being constructed within their territories.
The registration of such rights may be restricted to vessels which,
under the national law of the state of registration, will be of a type and
size making them eligible, when completed, for registration as seagoing
vessels.
Article 2
The Contracting States may restrict registration of such rights to
cases where vessels are to be or are being constructed for a foreign
purchaser.
The Contracting States shall allow registration of rights in respect
of vessels which are to be or are being constructed irrespective of the
nationality or domicile of the applicant. However, the foregoing shall
not effect any provision of the national law of the State of registration
restricting the acquisition of such rights by aliens or for controlling
shipbuilding.
The effects of registrations under the provisions of this Convention
as regards the national status of any vessel shall be determined by the
law of the State where the vessel is to be or is being constructed.
Article 3
No right in respect of a vessel which is to be or is being constructed
within the territory of a Contracting State shall be admissible for
registration in any other Contracting State.
Article 4
Registration of rights in respect of a vessel which is to be or is
being constructed shall be permitted when a contract for the building of a
properly specified vessel has been executed or the builder declares that
he has decided to build such a vessel for his own account.
However, the national law may make it a condition for registration
that the keel has been laid or equivalent constructional work has been
performed in the place of launching.
Article 5
Titles to and mortgages and "hypotheques" on a vessel which is to be
or is being constructed shall, on application, be entered in the register.
Article 6
The effects of the registration of the rights set out in Article 5,
including the ranking of mortgages and "hypotheques" between themselves,
shall be determined by the law of the State where the vessel is to be or
is being constructed; however, without prejudice to the provisions of this
Convention, all matters relating to the procedure of enforcement shall be
regulated by the law of the State where the enforcement takes place.
Article 7
The ranking between registered mortgages and "hypotheques" on vessels
under construction on the one hand and liens and rights of retention of
such vessels on the other hand shall be determined according to the rules
applicable to vessels registered after completion.
Article 8
The national law may provide that the registered rights on a vessel
under construction shall attach to materials, machinery and equipment
which are within the precincts of the builder's yard and which by marking
or other means are distinctly identified as intended to be incorporated in
the vessel.
Article 9
The rights set out in Article 5 which are registered in one of the
Contracting States in accordance with the national law of such State, and
the priority thereby obtained, shall be recognized in all other
Contracting States.
Article 10
No Contracting State shall permit, except in the case of forced sale,
the deregistration of the rights set out in Article 5 without the written
consent of the holders of such rights.
A vessel which is being or has been constructed in a Contracting State
shall not be eligible for registration in another Contracting State unless
a certificate has been issued by the former State to the effect that the
rights registered pursuant to Article 5 have been deregistered or that
such rights will be deregistered on the day when the vessel is registered.
Article 11
Any dispute between two or more Contracting Parties concerning the
interpretation or application of this Convention which cannot be settled
through negotiation, shall, at the request of one of them, be submitted to
arbitration. If within six months from the date of the request for
arbitration the parties are unable to agree on the organization of the
arbitration, any one of those parties may refer the dispute to the
International Court of Justice by request in conformity with the Statute
of the Court.
Article 12
1. Each Contracting Party may at the time of signature or ratification
of this Convention or accession thereto, declare that it does not consider
itself bound by Article 11 of the Convention. The other Contracting
Parties shall not be bound by this Article with respect to any Contracting
Party having made such a reservation.
2. Any Contracting Party having made a reservation in accordance with
paragraph 1 may at any time withdraw this reservation by notification to
the Belgian Government.
Article 13
This Convention shall be open for signature by the States represented
at the twelfth session of the Diplomatic Conference on Maritime Law.
Article 14
This Convention shall be ratified and the instruments of ratification
shall be deposited with the Belgian Government.
Article 15
1. This Convention shall come into force three months after the date
of the deposit of the fifth instrument of ratification.
2. This Convention shall come into force in respect of each signatory
State which ratifies it after the deposit of the fifth instrument of
ratification, three months after the date of the deposit of the instrument
of ratification.
Article 16
1. States, Members of the United Nations or Members of the specialized
agencies, not represented at the twelfth session of the Diplomatic
Conference on Maritime Law, may accede to this Convention.
2. The instruments of accession shall be deposited with the Belgian
Government.
3. The Convention shall come into force in respect of the acceding
State three months after the date of deposit of the instrument of
accession of that State, but not before the date of entry into force of
the Convention as established by Article 15 (1).
Article 17
Each Contracting Party shall have the right to denounce this
Convention at any time after the coming into force thereof in respect of
such Contracting Party. Nevertheless, this denunciation shall only take
effect one year after the date on which notification thereof has been
received by the Belgian Government.
Article 18
1. Any Contracting Party may at the time of signature, ratification or
accession to this Convention or at any time thereafter declare by written
notification to the Belgian Government which, among the territories under
its sovereignty or for whose international relations it is responsible,
are those to which the present Convention applies.
The Convention shall three months after the date of the receipt of
such notification by the Belgian Government, extend to the territories
named therein.
2. Any Contracting Party which has made a declaration under paragraph
(1) of this Article may at any time thereafter declare by notification
given to the Belgian Government that the Convention shall cease to extend
to such territories.
This denunciation shall take effect one year after the date on which
notification thereof has been received by the Belgian Government.
Article 19
The Belgian Government shall notify the State represented at the
twelfth session of the Diplomatic Conference on Maritime Law, and the
acceding States to this Convention, of the following:
1. The signatures, ratifications and accessions received in accordance
with Articles 13, 14 and 16.
2. The date on which the present Convention will come into force in
accordance with Article 15.
3. The notifications with regard to Articles 12 and 18.
4. The denunciations received in accordance with Article 17.
Article 20
Any Contracting Party may three years after the coming into force of
this Convention, in respect of such Contracting Party, or at any time
thereafter request that a Conference be convened in order to consider
amendments to this Convention.
Any Contracting Party proposing to avail itself of this right shall
notify the Belgian Government which, provided that one-third of the
Contracting Parties are in agreement, shall convene the Conference within
six months thereafter.
In witness whereof the undersigned plenipotentiaries, duly authorized,
have signed this Convention.
Done at Brussels, this 27th day of May 1967, in the French and English
languages, both texts being equally authentic, in a single copy, which
shall remain deposited in the archives of the Belgian Government, which
shall issue certified copies.
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