Yacht Registration in Cayman Isls

The Cayman Islands is an overseas territory of Great Britain in the Caribbean Sea, consists of 3 small islands, with a total area of 264 km2. The population is about 65 thousand people, the official language is English. The currency is the Cayman dollar. The world's largest offshore center for the registration of premium yachts and cats. Approximately 15% of yachts with a length of more than 30 meters and about 20% of yachts with a length of more than 40 meters of the yacht fleet in the world are registered in the Caymans. To register a yacht, a survey inspection is necessary. The physical presence of the yacht in the Caymans is not required, all registration can be done remotely. Registration is done for 1 year, then it is necessary to renew it.

The Cayman Registry is a member of the Red Ensign Group with Category 1 status. The Cayman flag is a premium one. A vessel flying the flag of the Cayman Islands can benefit from consular support from the United Kingdom, as well as the protection of the Royal Navy.

Not all nationalities can register the flag in the Cayman Islands.

Registration of Pleasure Yachts up to 24 Metres

The yacht registration process in the Caymans is divided into several steps:

1 Step: Question Form

Registration starts with a questionnaire that we ask to fill out in order to understand the possibility of registration of the Caymans flag. In this form it is necessary to tell what is your passport, what is your yacht, how old it is, where it is located or whether it was registered before, etc. We will help you fill out the questionnaire.

If we see that it would be a problem to register in the Cayman Islands, we’ll suggest you other decent alternatives. If we see no difficulties, we can move on.

2 Step: Documents Required from You

To register a boat in the Caymans, it is necessary to pass a survey inspection in one of these Classification Societies:

3 Step: Documents Required from You

• 1. Copy of the passport (page with photo) or ID card of the yacht owner*.
• * In case of a corporate owner – the copies of all corporate documents of the company (Certificate of Incorporation, M&AoA, Appointment of the Director, Share Certificates, etc.), including a copy of the director's and shareholder’s passport or ID card. If the documents are more than 6 months, an up-dated extract (Certificate of Good Standing) from the register is required.
• 2. Proof of Address of the yacht owner. For example, Utility Bill for electricity, water or gas, which contains full name and the address of the owner of a yacht.
• 3. A completed Applications for boat registration (Form CISR 854, Form CISR 856), where it is necessary to provide full data about the boat, its technical characteristics, where it is located, owner's data: full name, address, nationality, phone, e-mail; as well as to select the home port and to suggest 4 names of the boat. We will help you prepare these forms.

• 4. Documents confirming the ownership of the yacht:
  - Builder Certificate,
  - Bill of Sale,
  - Sales Agreement,
  - Invoice,
  - Court Documents,
  - Protocol of Delivery.
• 5. Yacht Documents: CE Certificate of the yacht, Certificate of Construction.
• 6. Deletion Certificate issued by previous yacht register, if the boat was registered earlier.
• 7. Certificate of Survey / Tonnage Measurement –
  see 2 Step: Survey Inspection above.

• 8. Appointment of a local Representative Person. To register a yacht in the Caymans, a local registration agent is required; usually this is a local lawyer. We work with such agent. To appoint him, you’ll have to sign an Agreement with him and pay for his services. We will help you do all this.
• 9. Appointment of an Authorized Person. The yacht owner can act on his own behalf, or he can appoint an Authorised Person (for instance, the lawyer you know) with whom the yacht registry will contact regarding registration. To do this, you will need to prepare the Form CISR 855: Appointment of an Authorized Person. A Power of Attorney also required to be issued along with this form. We will help you prepare these documents.

Optional Services

• 1. Change of Representative Person – 200 USD
• 2. Change of Registered Address – 600 USD
• 3. Transfer of registration of a ship between british registers – 1200 USD
• 4. Duplicate certificate of registry – 300 USD
• 5. Certified copy of a document relating to the registration of a
  ship – 300 USD
• 6. Transfer of ownership registration – 1100 USD
• 7. Deletion of a vessel from Cayman’s Registry – 1200 USD
• 8. Under construction registration – 600 USD
• 9. Survey for tonnage measurement and issue of appropriate tonnage certificate under the tonnage regulations, under 24 metres in length – 500 USD

Registration of Private Yachts Over 24 Meters
Yachts for Commercial Use

The Cayman Islands flag is the premium flag.

The Cayman Islands is a favorite place to register luxury yachts. Therefore, registration agents (lawyers) in the Caymans begin their work with a request to make a deposit of about 3,500 USD from which an hourly fee of $ 200 per hour will be charged. You may negotiate for a fixed amount as well.

We can help you prepare all the necessary documents for yacht or cat registration and conduct preliminary negotiations. The better the documents are prepared, the lower the cost for the Cayman lawyer’s time rate.

E-mail to us, we will start working with you right away.

Yacht Ownership within the Cayman Company

Yacht Registration through a company is one of the most popular options.

It can be any foreign company that got approval from the Cayman Yacht Registry to be formed as Foreign Company registered in Cayman. The cost of such formation is from 4000 USD.

Or you can register a new company in the Cayman Islands. The next good type of company is the Cayman Exempt Company. We will help you in registration of a company in the Caymans and in its further maintenance as well.

• For company registration the following are needed:
• 1. A notarized and apostilled copy of the boat owner's passport (page with photo) or ID card.
• 2. Proof of address, such as utility bill for water, gas, or electricity, that contains surname, first name and address of the yacht owner.
• 3. Bank Reference or a Recommendation Letter from a law firm addressed to the registration agent.
• All yacht owners confirm that the majority interest belongs to the persons qualified for Cayman registration (see the list of nationalities who can register the Cayman flag for their yacht), and sign the Declaration. We will help you prepare it.

If the documents are not in English, a notarized translation into English is required. We will explain how to make duly notarized translation.

The cost of company incorporation in the Caymans – 4500 USD.
The cost of annual renewal of the Cayman company – 4000 USD + accounting statements + taxes (if there are any in the Caymans).

More Information

The Cayman Islands is a scenery archipelago of 3 small islands in the Caribbean Sea, located between Cuba and Jamaica. The Caymans is a self-governing British Overseas Territory. The world's largest offshore zone and luxury yacht registration center. More than half of all superyachts in the world are registered in the Caymans. The Cayman Islands keep a shipping register since 1903.

The international registration of yachts in the Caymans takes place in Cayman Islands Shipping Registry (CISR). A radio license (MMSI) is issued by The Utility Regulation and Competition Office (or OfReg). The Caymans has its own feature: the radio call sign is assigned by CISR, and MMSI is issued by OfReg.

The Shipping Registry has offices in the USA, Great Britain, Panama, France, Greece, Japan and Singapore. An additional fee of $350 may be charged for registration services through the regional office.

There are 3 Ports of Registry in the Caymans: George Town, The Creek, and Bloody Bay. Two yachts can have the same name if they are registered in different home ports.

Registration usually goes on quickly – within 24 hours, assuming that all documents and forms are submitted to the Registry, everything fits the Registry, and all government fees are paid.

The scans of documents in PDF can be sent to the Registry first. When the yacht registry checks and approves them, the original documents should be forwarded by DHL courier to the Caymans within 7 days.

To register a boat in the Caymans for a non-resident, a Representative Person is needed for communication between the yacht owner and the registry. Usually it is a local lawyer who is responsible for the compliance of the yacht with local laws and regulations, he also monitors all changes in legislation and informs the yacht owner about them.

Registration renewal has to be done once a year, at least 30 days before the deadline, otherwise there might be fines. We can remind you in advance about annual renewal.

More Information

The Cayman Islands were discovered in 1503 by Columbus, and were first named "Las Tortugas" because of the numerous sea turtles on the islands. Later on, the islands were renamed into the Cayman Islands, after the Caiman crocodiles. The sailors wrongly thought there were crocodiles around on the islands, but in fact these were large iguana lizards.

Lots of iguanas live in the Caymans up till now. The Caymans even have a special road sign: Beware of iguana! This means that an iguana can rest under the car, and before you go - make sure that no one is hiding under the wheels.

For a long time, the Cayman Islands were quite uncomfortable for living: a lot of mosquitoes, lack of fresh water, tropical hurricanes. This is why the islands were not settled a good while and just used to be a drop house for pirates and debtors fled from the creditors.

Turtle hunters were the first to settle the islands. They sold turtle meat to passing ships. As a result, almost all sea turtles were destroyed. Now there is a sea turtle farm in the Caymans, which breeds and releases thousands of small turtles into the sea every year.

The Cayman Islands are not seen on the world maps, such a small territory they have. Therefore, special globes and world maps are made for the residents of the Caymans where the Cayman Islands depicted a little bit bigger than they are.

Nowadays, the Caymans is a prosperous offshore financial center. Here there are modern tourist infrastructure, beautiful white sand beaches, expensive real estate property and a number of duty-free shops. The Caymans is famous for its excellent spearfishing, diving and yachting.