SSR - White Lies - asking for a friend

[Irish Rover]

So a family partnership wants to buy a yacht. One family member is resident in the UK but other two are not. All same surname. They are planning to register on SSR all using the address of the one genuinely UK resident member. Technically illegal but what are the real risks or prospects of being discovered? Unlike you and I these guys are not interested in the mortality of what they propose just the practicalities and risk of being caught. All thoughts welcome.

 

[Bajansailor]

Why can't they just register the vessel in the name of the person who is resident in the UK?
Or do they want to have all of their names on the document?
The SSR is not a proof of ownership, so it would not matter surely if the vessel just had one owner from a registration point of view?

 

[Irish Rover]

They want to have all names on the register. Here in Turkey, for instance, the Coast Guard make a big issue if a registered owner is not onboard if you're stopped while underway.

 

[Bajansailor]

Here in Turkey, for instance, the Coast Guard make a big issue if a registered owner is not onboard if you're stopped while underway.

How do the Coastguard deal with the bareboat charter yachts - or do they receive a special exemption?

 

[Irish Rover]

How do the Coastguard deal with the bareboat charter yachts - or do they receive a special exemption?

Truthfully don't know but they're commercial so different rules, I guess.

 

[Bajansailor]

Could you have an official document of authorisation issued by the registered owner giving the fellow owners permission to use the vessel without the owner on board?
And specifically list the other people involved. They would not necessarily have to be called partners or co-owners - that might make things more complicated?
You could even get a couple of bods with impressive stamps to notarise the document confirming that it was issued / signed in their presence - Crats of all persuasions always like documents like this

 

[westernman]

So a family partnership wants to buy a yacht. One family member is resident in the UK but other two are not. All same surname. They are planning to register on SSR all using the address of the one genuinely UK resident member. Technically illegal but what are the real risks or prospects of being discovered? Unlike you and I these guys are not interested in the mortality of what they propose just the practicalities and risk of being caught. All thoughts welcome.

You could register it in the UK on part I.
If the non resident members are not UK citizens (or EU citizens - I think they still qualify), you can just appoint the person who is resident in the UK as an representative. Although I think that is not actually needed as one of the owners is UK resident.

No need to do anything dodgy. Also a UK Part I registration is much more serious than an SSR.

Check this out:-
Eligibility criteria for UK registered ship

 

[Irish Rover]

True but Part 1 requires a tonnage survey and a good deal more paperwork and is more expensive. They want SSR with no hassle and my job is to find out the pitfalls and workarounds.

 

[BobnLesley]

The only time I heard directly rather than third/fourth hand of a non-UK resident getting pulled up for using an SSR - the SSR was withdrawn - he had tried to renew it using a credit/debit card drawn on a non-UK bank whereafter he was asked to prove a UK address and couldn't.

 

[ashtead]

I would have thought zero risk unless the Uk resident dies and their property is sold when it comes up for renewal time but maybe the death would lead to sale of yacht anyway. As it’s a family partnership maybe both the yacht and Uk real property pass to the survivors ?

 

[grumpy_o_g]

So a family partnership wants to buy a yacht. One family member is resident in the UK but other two are not. All same surname. They are planning to register on SSR all using the address of the one genuinely UK resident member. Technically illegal but what are the real risks or prospects of being discovered? Unlike you and I these guys are not interested in the mortality of what they propose just the practicalities and risk of being caught. All thoughts welcome.

I don't think having non-UK owners of an SSR registered boat carries the death penalty but the SSR does allow EU and EAA owners according to their web-site (Eligibility criteria for UK registered ship) - I suspect you knew that though. The only issue I can see is if the non-UK/EU/EEA presented his or her passport and the SSR docket as proof of the boat being British and the official was checking to see if the boat met requirements. You might just be unlucky enough to meet a Douanes gentlemen who was sharp enough to know that's not allowed. I'm not familiar with export and import rules to say but is there a circumstance where a docket proclaiming one person as the owner actually owns 1/3 share would be looked at at all?

 

[Bru]

It won't go through

They do actually do checks that all the parties to the registration are UK residents and they don't accept accommodation addresses or parties using an address that they don't live at*

(This I found out the hard way back when our first yacht was jointly owned with a friend and as, at the time of registration, he was about to move I naively thought it would be easier to put his address down as ours. Back it came requiring proof of his residency at our address or otherwise in the UK having failed their checks, presumably because he was not on the electoral roll at our address etc)

 

[mjcoon]

How do the Coastguard deal with the bareboat charter yachts - or do they receive a special exemption?

Maybe like Greece did in 1984. I have a long document headed "Memorandum of Agreement for Self-sail Charter" which makes many printed stipulations governing a mere fortnight's flotilla holiday!

 

[Tranona]

How do the Coastguard deal with the bareboat charter yachts - or do they receive a special exemption?

When you take over a bare boat there is paperwork that authorises you (or more than one person in the crew) to use the boat. This is stamped by the Port Police and will usually require evidence of competence. Most charter boats are registered locally, so it will be a Turkish rules. If the boat is not registered in Turkey it will still require a permit showing the skipper and all crew. Similar rules apply in Greece - I still have the logs from my old boat showing all the permits for charterers over the years with the appropriate Port Police stamps.

The difficulty OPs friend has is that the authorities do check on foreign flagged boats and expect the skipper to be the owner or have authority from the owner. With syndicate owned yachts it is often a problem ensuring that all members show as owners on the boat's paperwork. This is difficult, if not impossible using the SSR as it was never intended for this purpose, but primarily for UK based boats making short visits overseas, usually to Europe. Part 1 registration solves this problem as all owners can have their interest registered against the boat and eligibility is not dependent on residence.

if these folks are serious they are going to have to bite the bullet and pay for Part 1 or another Red Ensign registration. Although a bit of a pain and costs it is really trivial in the whole scheme of things - running a boat in the med is not cheap and the last thing you need is hassle because you have not got the right paperwork. If they think this is an imposition they should thank their lucky stars they are not Spanish or Italian!

Because of the abuse of the SSR the government/registry have made it quite clear that in this sort of situation only Part 1 will do.

 

[Graham376]

Know several ex-pats who maintain UK address for SSR by being on electoral role at a relative's or friend's address. They also use the address for any official documents and bank statements.

 

[KompetentKrew]

True but Part 1 requires a tonnage survey …

The tonnage survey is relatively cheap through the RYA, if they end up having to go that way.

Apart from that, I think the only palaver is permanently marking the boat's number and ensuring the name is printed in letters 5cm high on the transom. I can't remember the Part 1 registration being truly onerous.

 

[Irish Rover]

Thanks for the replies so far. So, it seems, the major stumbling block would be if they cross checked with the electoral register. Are we sure they do that - my understanding is UK citizens don't even need to be resident in the UK to get on the register. I emphasise again that one of the three is a tax paying property owner genuinely resident in the UK and shares a surname with the other two.

 

[Koeketiene]

Know several ex-pats who maintain UK address for SSR by being on electoral role at a relative's or friend's address. They also use the address for any official documents and bank statements.

It's what we do (though not for SSR purposes).

 

[jwilson]

The MCA have quite recently tightened up on SSR ownership/country of residence requirement, I assume because too many people were using it for non-UK based boats and owners. What may have worked a few years ago will possibly not work now.

The SSR was designed to be a cheap and simple way of giving UK based small boats a registration document so they could visit other countries and have a bit of paper to satisfy foreign customs people and meet international maritime law. Try registering a small boat in Spain or Italy and you will see how useful and simple the SSR system is.

For the OP the right answer is to use Part I, or another full-blown national registration.

 

[Irish Rover]

The MCA have quite recently tightened up on SSR ownership/country of residence requirement, I assume because too many people were using it for non-UK based boats and owners. What may have worked a few years ago will possibly not work now.

The SSR was designed to be a cheap and simple way of giving UK based small boats a registration document so they could visit other countries and have a bit of paper to satisfy foreign customs people and meet international maritime law. Try registering a small boat in Spain or Italy and you will see how useful and simple the SSR system is.

For the OP the right answer is to use Part I, or another full-blown national registration.

Thanks. I know what the right answer is and the raison d'etre of the SSR. My friends are looking for guidance with the "wrong" answer or a fudge, if you prefer.