Liberian
corporations, limited partnerships, registered
business companies, foundations and LLCs
are free of taxation if non-resident,
i.e. not beneficially owned by a resident
of Liberia, or with income earned in Liberia
or repatriated to Liberia, and are used
for a variety of purposes from holding
entities, through property and portfolio
owning to trading corporations quoted
on the World's major stock exchanges.
Of these entities a foundation cannot
trade but is particularly useful for holding
together a complex structure of other
entities for long term development. Liberian
corporations are particularly favoured
for the ownership of vessels, whether
or not registered in the Liberian Registry.
Liberia
Maritime Registry
57 years ago Liberia's maritime program
opened its doors to the world's shipping
community, and within 3 months the 29,000dwt
tanker World Peace, a large vessel by
the standards of her day, had become
the first ocean going merchant vessel
to fly Liberia's star and stripes.
Now the Liberian registry is the second
largest registry in the world: in 2004
came news that the total number of ships
in the registry had passed 2,000. By
2008, the Liberian-flagged fleet consisted
of 2,600 vessels of more than 80 million
gross tons. Liberia's fleet is made
up of nearly every type of ship, with
large concentrations of oil, chemical
and gas tankers, followed closely by
both dry bulk carriers and containerships.
The Registry clearly has experience
with special purpose vessels and large
passenger ships.
Owners come from more than 50 countries,
with Germany, Greece, Japan, Russia,
Taiwan, the UK and the USA figuring
prominently.
The success of the Liberian registry
is due to the high standards set and
maintained over a long period of time.
The registry has a reputation for quality,
efficiency, safety, and service. Liberia
also offers one of the most convenient,
efficient, and tax effective offshore
corporate registries in the world. The
registry is operated by LISCR, LLC (The
Liberian International Shipping and
Corporate Registry) , which has offices
in the USA (Vienna, Virginia, and New
York), Piraeus, Hamburg, Hong Kong,
London, Monrovia, Zurich and Tokyo.
LISCR has made significant investments
in new computer and communication technologies
in order to meet the demands of today's
shipping industry.
A recently-opened office in Hamburg
testifies to Germany's maritime importance.
It has been estimated that sixty per
cent of all international ship finance
originates in the German market. The
Liberian Registry has over 54 clients,
400 ships and 10 million gross tons
controlled from Germany alone.
Liberia
has active governmental representatives
at the IMO who are permanently stationed
in London to provide full time flag
state voice on the issues effecting
safety and environmental protection
on the IMO agenda. Professional staff
from LISCR Vienna, New York and London
offices participate to augment the official
delegation in the numerous working groups,
sub-committees and committee meetings.
Liberia
is signatory to the major international
maritime conventions and works with
the class societies to ensure full and
fair compliance and enforcement of the
international rules and codes. As a
consequence of the close cooperation
between the Registry's technical staff
and the class societies, Liberia has
implemented consistent interpretations
of international rules and regulations
to facilitate clear and unambiguous
technical information for use in new
vessel construction by major shipyards
around the world and to ensure continued
compliance and safe operation of existing
vessels under the Liberian flag.
Such
examples of this include Marpol Annex
VI and the International Ship and Port
Security (ISPS) Code. Liberia was the
first major registry to ratify the air
pollution prevention code, known as
Marpol Annex VI. With respect to the
ISPS Code, Liberia worked closely with
shipping and security experts in late
2001 to develop an effective model security
plan. This plan was later delivered
to the IMO for consideration and adoption.
Likewise, Liberia also pioneered the
world's first seafarers' biometric identification
document. Liberia's design was ultimately
adopted in principle at the International
Labour Organization.
In
April, 2006, the Liberian Registry was
admitted to the United States Coast
Guard’s Qualship 21 quality incentive
program, which covers only about 10%
of foreign-flagged ships calling at
US ports.
A Liberian Registry statement says:
“This recognition of Liberia’s commitment
to quality shipping comes at a time
of growth and expansion for the registry,
which has grown by more than 500 vessels
under the management of the US-based
Liberian International Ship & Corporate
Registry (LISCR).”
The
US Coast Guard said: “Liberia’s commitment
to quality shipping was evident as Liberian-flag
vessels calling on US ports compiled
an excellent 2005 port state control
record. As a result, the three-year
detention percentage for Liberian vessels
fell to 0.94 per cent, which is below
the cut-off for inclusion in the Qualship
2 programme".
Scott
Bergeron, Chief Operating Officer of
LISCR, said: “We are delighted to have
been included in the Qualship programme,
because this provides further confirmation
of Liberia’s pre-eminent position in
terms of safety and quality-driven shipping.
Further recognition of this commitment
to safe and secure shipping, coupled
with the growth in the size of the fleet,
is good for the ever-increasing numbers
of shipowners who operate their ships
under the Liberian flag, and for international
shipping generally. Any register can
grow in size, but to do so while maintaining
the highest standards of safety is more
difficult, and must be the aim of any
responsible ship registry.”
Benefits
of the Qualship 21 program include reductions
in port state control examinations and
streamlined inspection procedures.
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Liberia
The Registration Process
The
Liberian Registry is open to any ship
owner in the world. In order to enter
the Liberian registry a vessel must
be owned by a Liberian legal entity
(corporation, etc.), be less than 20
years of age and must meet high safety
standards.
The Republic of Liberia recognizes the
following classification societies for
conducting surveys and issuing statutory
certificates of behalf of Liberia:
American Bureau of Shipping (ABS)
Bureau Veritas (BV)
China Classification Society (CCS)
Det Norske Veritas (DNV)
Germanischer Lloyd (GL)
Korean Register of Shipping (KRS)
Lloyd's Register of Shipping (LR)
Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (NK)
Registro Italiano Navale (RINA)
Russian Maritime Register of Shipping
All
of the above listed class societies
are full members of International Association
of Classification Societies (IACS).
The Office of the Deputy Commissioner
of Maritime Affairs maintains continuous
contact with these recognized class
societies.
The Application for Registration is
a two-sided single page document. The
registration process begins with the
submission of this application with
the following supporting documents:
-
Proof of Ownership: Demonstrated by
the Bill of Sale transferring title
to the present owner, or for a new
building a Builder's Certificate or
Master Carpenter's Certificate.
-
Authority of Agent or Officer: This
document is usually submitted in the
form of a Power of Attorney, or Secretary's
Certificate of Corporate Resolutions,
authorizing one or more named persons
to act for or on behalf of the owner
in making application for registration
of the vessel and to perform all acts
necessary to accomplish the registration.
-
Oath of Owner: If the vessel owner
is not an incorporated company, it
should also submit an oath of a Managing
Owner or Part Owner (or Agent of Owner,
Managing Owner or Part Owner).
-
Confirmation of Class: A Certificate
of Confirmation of Class for an existing
vessel, or a Certificate of Seaworthiness,
or an Interim Certificate of Class
for a newbuilding, dated not more
than ten (10) days prior to registration,
must be submitted at time of registration.
-
Statement or Affidavit: This Statement
or Affidavit needs to be submitted
in addition to the confirmation of
class and is given by the Classification
Society with which the vessel is classed
at the date of registry. Such statement
must indicate:
(a) all conditions of classification,
outstanding classification recommendations
and/or outstanding deficiencies;
(b) the relevant statutory certificates,
which the Society is prepared to issue
on behalf of the Administration when
all statutory surveys have been satisfactorily
carried out;
(c) the current status of all classification
and relevant statutory surveys setting
forth the dates of completion of each;
and
(d) to the extent known by the Society,
any reasons why the vessel is presently
not fit to proceed to sea prior to
the completion of outstandings as
noted above.
Vessels
that are 15 years of age or older must
also submit copies of the reports of
the most recent surveys. Vessels older
than 20 years may be granted a waiver
for registration on application by the
owner accompanied by an advice from
the vessel's Classification Society
confirming that the vessel is in class
and that the Society is willing to issue
all statutory certificates to the vessel.
A
vessel registered in the Republic of
Liberia may only be owned or bareboat
registered by one of the following:
-
a corporation formed under the Business
Corporation Act;
-
a company formed under the Registered
Business Company Act;
-
a limited partnership formed under
the Partnership Act;
-
a limited liability company formed
under the Limited Liability Company
Act;
-
a Foreign Maritime Entity (a legal
entity formed and existing in another
jurisdiction and registered in Liberia
for the purpose of owning a ship)
qualified to own a vessel as provided
in Chapter 13 of the Business Corporation
Act, and Sections 51(6)(c) of the
Maritime Law.
Further details of the registration
process are available from registration@liscr.com
or from any LISCR office.
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Liberia
Registration Fees And Charges
Where
a ship is to be registered upon transfer
from a foreign flag, or is a newbuilding,
both registration fees and the first
year's Liberian tonnage taxes and annual
fees are payable prior to registration.
Annual tonnage taxes become due and
owing in full on January 1 of a given
year. Where ownership of a vessel is
to be transferred shortly after the
commencement of a calendar year, the
buyer and seller should take particular
care, in advance of the closing, to
provide for payment of those taxes.
The
Registry reduced its fees and tonnage
taxes, as of July 1, 2000, and now provides
two standard pricing options:
- For
ships of 14,000 or more net tons,
tonnage taxes are US$ 0.10 per net
ton, plus a flat annual fee of $3,800.00
per vessel. There are separate fees
for inspections and MIIPS contributions,
to cover IMO dues and marine investigations.
-
For ships of less than 14,000 net
tons, tonnage taxes are US$ 0.40 per
net ton, plus MIIPS charges and a
$1,200.00 inspection fee.
In
2000, the Registry waived registration
fees until further notice, and guaranteed
that fees would not be increased for
at least five years.
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Liberia Maritime
Safety
The
Liberian ship registry is recognized as
the leading open registry in terms of
safety and quality. Service and efficiency
in response to owners' needs is a primary
attraction as responsiveness and high
level of service often surpasses that
offered by many national flags. The fleet
average age is by far one the youngest
of all flags, national and open.
The excellent record of the fleet can
be attributed to many factors including;
delegation of statutory surveys to the
leading classification societies, a worldwide
network of nautical inspectors who perform
annual safety inspections and well qualified
and documented professional seafarers
who meet the highest standards of training,
experience and certification. The Registry
regulates Liberian flagged ship from a
basis of well-documented maritime laws,
regulations, and Marine notices to enforce
the Registry's maritime safety, security
and pollution prevention programs.
LISCR uses a worldwide network of nautical
inspectors to conduct annual safety inspections,
which complement the surveys conducted
by the classification societies. These
inspections are focused on operational,
manning, training and safety management
issues. This program is critical to maintaining
the quality of the ship registry.
LISCR
tracks and reports to the IMO on all Port
State Detentions of Liberian Flag vessels,
although there have been very few of these.
The nautical inspectors have come to the
aid of detained vessels and the registry
by using their expertise to help correct
the deficiencies identified by the Port
State Inspector or, in some cases, removing
the record of Port State detention when
the reported deficiency was not found
to be applicable to the particular vessel
or operation.
As
evident by the attack on the MT Tanker
LIMBURG in October 2002, commercial ships
and their crews are not only targets of
crimes such as robbery, piracy and hostage
taking, but are now also potential targets
of terrorist attacks. The Liberian Administration
believes the new International Ship and
Port Security (ISPS) Code, when properly
implemented onboard and in conjunction
with a vessel's shore-side organization
, can reduce the threat of crimes or attacks
against Liberian vessels and their crews,
and minimize the potential vulnerability
of neighbouring environments.
Liberia
has taken a clear industry lead in terms
of carrying out certifications and audits
for the ISPS Code, which entered into
force on July 1 this year. Despite widespread
concerns of slow implementation throughout
the industry, Liberia was the pacesetter
in terms of ISPS plan approvals and onboard
audits and certification. For example,
by early May 2004, 95% of Liberian security
plans had been approved and nearly two-thirds
of the mandated ISPS Audits had either
been completed or scheduled. Liberia was
also the first registry to partner with
the United States' Proliferation Security
Initiative. Working together with US officials,
Liberia helped to draft a bilateral agreement,
which addresses the threat of transportation
of weapons of mass destruction by sea.
Other maritime nations are now signing
the very same agreement, which was pioneered
by Liberia and the United States.
Many
shipowners acknowledged Liberia's professional
and efficient implementation of the ISPS
Code. In fact, two-thirds of Liberia's
fleet chose LISCR to conduct their security
audits, over and above other Responsible
Security Organisations approved by the
Registry.
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Liberia
Seafarers
There are no citizenship requirements
for officers or seafarers but the Registry's
administration of seafarers' identity,
qualifications and experience is extensive,
including a trial program of biometric
identification. Manning requirements
are dependent on type, size and route
of vessel. The Office of the Deputy
Commissioner may grant temporary waivers
from its Operations Center in Virginia.
The Seafarer's Department at the Liberian
Registry certifies and documents officers
and ratings that sail aboard Liberian
registered ships. This department is
responsible for issuing Seafarer Identification
and Record Books, special qualification
certificates and all officer certificates.
The
Seafarer's Department was the first
department to benefit from one of LISCR's
high tech computerized systems. The
Seafarers Electronic Application (SEA)
System is currently available to all
of LISCR's filing agents. The system
allows agents to transmit all applications
for seafarer documents electronically
through a secure e-commerce system.
By using this electronic application
system, agents will receive the documents
requested in a matter of days, rather
than weeks. Further benefits include
cost savings to the owners/agents and
a better way to manage applications
sent for processing.
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