New regulations on determining the age of ships

(Chinhphu.vn) - The Government has just issued Decree 247/2025/ND-CP amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree No. 171/2016/ND-CP dated December 27, 2016 of the Government on registration, deregistration, purchase, sale and new construction of seagoing vessels, which was amended and supplemented by Decree No. 86/2020/ND-CP dated July 23, 2020.

The age of a ship is calculated in years and starts from the date of delivery of the ship.

Decree 247/2025/ND-CP amends and supplements Clause 11, Article 3, regulating the method of determining the age of a ship. Accordingly, the age of a ship is calculated in years and starts from the date of handover of the ship.

The date of delivery of a ship is the date of completion of the first inspection before the ship is put into use as the basis for issuing technical certificates on maritime safety in accordance with the provisions of law and international treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a member and is recorded on those technical safety certificates.

According to the Ministry of Construction , the age of a ship is calculated in years and starting from the date of delivery to put into use will be close to the actual operating time of the ship, creating favorable conditions for businesses to buy and sell with a reasonable schedule and price while still being in accordance with the age limit of ships registered in Vietnam. The method of determining the age of a ship according to the date of delivery contributes to promoting shipping businesses to equip ships suitable for their finances and operating capacity, increasing the total GRT tonnage of the national fleet, in order to increase the market share of the national fleet, reducing dependence on import and export goods transport by sea of ​​foreign shipping lines is necessary.

Performing administrative procedures in electronic environment

In addition, Decree 247/2025/ND-CP amends and supplements many regulations such as: Naming of ships; procedures for indefinite ship registration; procedures for time-limited ship registration; procedures for temporary ship registration; accepting electronic records, procedures, and data to comply with the implementation of administrative procedures in the electronic environment as prescribed in Decree 45/2020/ND-CP.

Specifically, in the application for approval of naming a ship, the new Decree accepts contracts for the purchase and sale of ships or contracts for the construction of new ships, or other evidence of equivalent legal value regarding ownership of the ship:

Original or certified copy or electronic copy issued with the original book or certified electronic copy from the original or copy with the original for comparison of the Contract for purchase and sale of a ship or contract for new ship construction or other evidence of equivalent legal value on ownership of the ship (attached with a notarized translation or electronic copy of the notarized translation certified from the original if the contract is written in a foreign language);

Original or electronic copy issued from the original book or certified electronic copy from the original or certified copy or copy with original for comparison of the Certificate of registration of cooperative or cooperative union (in case the ship owner is a cooperative) or license to establish a branch or representative office in Vietnam (in case the ship owner is a foreign organization);

Certified copy or certified electronic copy of the original or copy with original for comparison of passport in case the ship owner is a foreign individual.

Organizations and individuals submit 01 set of documents directly or send it via the postal system or via the Online Public Service system to the ship registration authority.

Decree 247/2025/ND-CP takes effect from October 30, 2025.

Minh Hien

Source: https://baochinhphu.vn/quy-dinh-moi-ve-cach-dac-dinh-tuoi-cua-tau-bien-102250915185227291.htm