Moldova changes rules for sea vessels’ registration

Sea vessels may be registered under Moldovan flag only at the consent of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, which will give its resolution within 5 days. These provisions are fixed in the draft Government ruling on making changes to the Rules for registration of sea vessels in the Republic of Moldova. The Cabinet of Ministers is to take the final decision at one of the near future meetings.

Moldova’s Minister of Transport and Road Infrastructure Anatol Șalaru has noted that in case of violations, owners of vessels, registered under the Moldovan flag, will be punished in accordance with international treaties to which Moldova is a party of. In case of smuggling, vessels will be erased from the State Register and will not be able to fly the Republic of Moldova flag.

The Minister says, shipowners prefer to register ships under the Moldovan flag because of the low cost of the procedure, as well as due to weak legislation in this area.

Moldova’s Prime Minister Vlad Filat demanded to conduct an audit of all vessels that were currently flying Moldovan flag.

Currently, more than 400 vessels fly the Republic of Moldova flag, and for this Moldova’s budget receives annual revenue of about 7 mln lei.

English Translation by BSN
Adapted from Moldpress