haydude
Well-Known Member
I was wondering if anyone could give me some indications on what cancelling a french registration for a yacht involves.
Thank you in advance.
Thank you in advance.
Buying a yachtwith French flag
- Thread starter haydude
- Start date
bbg
Well-Known Member
The previous owner has to sign a form confirming that he is no longer the owner of the boat ("Radiation du Pavillon"), and is transferring ownership to someone who will register the boat outside France. Text of cover letter below.
The boat should have an orange book the "Acte de Francisation". I recommend you take a complete colour copy of every page, because the book shows the history of ownership of the boat. It must be sent to the douaniers with the Radiation du Pavillon and it will NOT be returned to you.
The boat will be registered in a specific port. I suggest you contact the douaniers at that port and tell them you need the form for a Radiation du Pavillon, and they will be able to provide it.
I seem to recall I found it online, but 5 minutes with Mr Google and several minutes looking through the douaniers website didn't do it for me this time.
Text for cover letter:
Note that if you buy a French (or any other foreign) flagged boat, you will need to change the MMSI of the VHF and any EPIRB aboard. For most VHFs and all EPIRBs this means sending it to the factory or an authorised service dealer.
The boat should have an orange book the "Acte de Francisation". I recommend you take a complete colour copy of every page, because the book shows the history of ownership of the boat. It must be sent to the douaniers with the Radiation du Pavillon and it will NOT be returned to you.
The boat will be registered in a specific port. I suggest you contact the douaniers at that port and tell them you need the form for a Radiation du Pavillon, and they will be able to provide it.
I seem to recall I found it online, but 5 minutes with Mr Google and several minutes looking through the douaniers website didn't do it for me this time.
Text for cover letter:
Note that if you buy a French (or any other foreign) flagged boat, you will need to change the MMSI of the VHF and any EPIRB aboard. For most VHFs and all EPIRBs this means sending it to the factory or an authorised service dealer.
haydude
Well-Known Member
THANK YOU !
One more question, is there a charge?
One more question, is there a charge?
Jenaline IV
Well-Known Member
More than likely having dealt with French Administration before.
Dont forget the Cheese God ceremony before you take the flag off
bbg
Well-Known Member
I don't think there is a charge with the Douaniers. Maybe it depends on the size of boat. There is a charge to register on Part III of the British Register (£25 online, IIRC).
There is DEFINITELY a charge to send your radio and EPIRB to the manufacturer and have them change the MMSI. As I recall, you must first register your radios online, then you get the MMSI numbers, then you send your radio / EPIRB off for resetting.
I was lucky - I took my radio to the manufacturer (20 minutes from where I keep the boat), and the guy re-set it for free. Took him about 4 minutes. I had to pay for the EPIRB but that wasn't too bad either - an electrician dealer (200 meters from where I keep the boat) was able to contact the manufacturer get the details on how to change. I understand it is much more expensive if you have to send things by mail and based on what I've read on this forum it is more expensive in UK. Check the make of radio / EPIRB before you buy the boat, and where you can get them serviced.
There is DEFINITELY a charge to send your radio and EPIRB to the manufacturer and have them change the MMSI. As I recall, you must first register your radios online, then you get the MMSI numbers, then you send your radio / EPIRB off for resetting.
I was lucky - I took my radio to the manufacturer (20 minutes from where I keep the boat), and the guy re-set it for free. Took him about 4 minutes. I had to pay for the EPIRB but that wasn't too bad either - an electrician dealer (200 meters from where I keep the boat) was able to contact the manufacturer get the details on how to change. I understand it is much more expensive if you have to send things by mail and based on what I've read on this forum it is more expensive in UK. Check the make of radio / EPIRB before you buy the boat, and where you can get them serviced.
bbg
Well-Known Member
found the form:
Radiation du Pavillon
Remember the former owner needs to sign, and you need to send it together with the Acte de Francisation and the Contract of Sale.
Radiation du Pavillon
Remember the former owner needs to sign, and you need to send it together with the Acte de Francisation and the Contract of Sale.
Last edited:
Bilgediver
Well-Known Member
I agree that if the boat is being registered in the UK that the MMSI has to be changed in the VHF but generally the EPIRB details are unchanged in the UK and it is only necessary to reregister the manufactures details with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. There is a provision in Epirbs for the MMSI to be included in the transmitted string but for some obscure reason the UK authorities do not enforce this though it would make life much easier when trying to sort out the wheat from the chaff at RAF Kinloss where the world wide EPIRB messages arrive for sorting. Some other countries do include the boats official number and or the MMSI in the Epirb string and this does need programming .
EPIRB registration is dealt with at Falmouth and no doubt a quick phone call will get the correct story. I would imagine the previous owner needs to deregister the EPIRB from the french system if leaving it on the boat.
The form is a good guide as the below link shows.
http://www.mcga.gov.uk/c4mca/mcga07...archandrescue/epirb/mcga-sar-epirb-online.htm
philip_stevens
Well-Known Member
Falmouth CG Ops Room 01326 317575
Tranona
Well-Known Member
Not sure that is correct about the EPIRB. It needs to be registered to the new owner and the MMSI number changed. I have just done this on mine (previously registered in Greece) and it cost nearly £50 including carriage both ways.
bbg
Well-Known Member
Agreed. When I bought my boat, I called someone at MCA or CG and they confirmed the EPIRB needs to have UK number.
alant
Well-Known Member
Use the traditional method!
Simply get your ships carpenter to repair all cannon holes, renew damaged rigging & spars, bend on new sails, tear down funny looking red/white /blue rag - grind into dirt after spitting on it of course, hoist a proper ensign as appropriate with a Union Flag somewhere adorning it, change its name to something more anglicised, press a few new crew & call it yours!
Easy, or so said some sailor fellow with a similar name!
Simply get your ships carpenter to repair all cannon holes, renew damaged rigging & spars, bend on new sails, tear down funny looking red/white /blue rag - grind into dirt after spitting on it of course, hoist a proper ensign as appropriate with a Union Flag somewhere adorning it, change its name to something more anglicised, press a few new crew & call it yours!
Easy, or so said some sailor fellow with a similar name!
Bosun Higgs
N/A
So what happens if you ignore all this beurocracy, bring the boat back to the UK, give it a Brit name and register it here. Are the frogs going to extradite you?
westernman
Well-Known Member
I doubt very much the previous owner will let you!
If the boat is not irradiated from the French registry, he will get a tax bill for it each year.
Bilgediver
Well-Known Member
I think you will find that it was a case of getting the greek requirements out of the Epirb.
In the UK they do not need any vessel particulars in the Epirb if the vessel has an MMSI as they do the cross referencing in the shore computer against the unique hex dec string which the owner registers.
If France also puts the MMSI in the Epirb then this has to be removed.
There are basically 3 memory areas in the EPirb..
1... is the hex string.
2... is for vessel details
3....is available for another number.
There is probably nothing wrong with you putting the MMSI in the second memory but it is not actually required however if there is a foreign MMSI there then it has to come out.
http://www.yachtbits.com/kme/epirb_programming_charge.php
DownWest
Well-Known Member
When I registered my small homebuild, it was at the Affaires Maritimes and there was no charge and no annual fee. Think this might be up to 7mt.
Usefull website www.mer.gouv.fr
A
Usefull website www.mer.gouv.fr
A
charles_reed
Well-Known Member
Changing your EPIRB?
Having had two, one on the US Register and another in UK, each EPIRB has a unique Hexadecimal #, all you have to do is to register it with the appropriate authority.
No sending away!!!
MMSI # is a different matter - the national authority issues them, and resetting it on a VHF requires administrator priveleges.
If you know how you can do that yourself.
CET1
Well-Known Member
When we bought our first boat down in France the frenchman was keenest to ensure that the documentation for the deregistration of the yacht was sent to the right Douanes office. In fact he had the papers ready when we arrived to take possesion. He mentioned something about TAX. Just glad we had copies of the history of the boat as all we got back was a copy of the form showing it had been deregistered.
bbg
Well-Known Member
Yes, changing the MMSI in the EPIRB. Bilgediver points out that not all EPIRBs have an MMSI coded in. Mine did, so I had to have the MMSI changed from a French MMSI to a British MMSI. As I already had the MMSI for the VHF, I asked Kannad to use the same MMSI for the EPIRB.
I've been through the process and discussed it with MCA or CG (can't remember which, but I think it was CG) before doing so just to make sure it was necessary. They told me that in my circumstances it was.
You might've been fortunate enough to have EPIRBs without MMSIs coded in, or just managed to get away without changing them. But my experience is that it is necessary to change the MMSI in the EPIRB if you change the country of registration of the boat.
Tranona
Well-Known Member
Exactly the advice I received. Moreover, I had it done in the UK as in Greece you need to formal agreement from the previous owner before the service centre will change it.
PlanB
Well-Known Member
And someone in our marina has been waiting over three weeks for the deregistration to arrive.
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