Nov 2020
Owners of a Cayman Islands flagged ship or yacht who are not resident in, or do not otherwise have their principal place of business in, the Cayman Islands are required to appoint a local “representative person” in the Cayman Islands in connection with the vessel. Conyers is able to provide representative person services in connection with any Cayman Islands ship or yacht owned by a non-resident owner.
Requirement for Representative Person
In order for a ship or yacht to be registered in the Cayman Islands, it must be owned (as to at least a majority) by a person qualified to do so under the Merchant Shipping Act (2016 Revision) of the Cayman Islands (the “Merchant Shipping Act”).
Persons qualified to own a Cayman Islands flagged vessel under the Merchant Shipping Act include, amongst others, individuals and/or bodies corporate, shipping entities or foreign companies incorporated, established or registered in:
- the United Kingdom or any of its Overseas Territories or Crown Dependencies (including the Cayman Islands, Bermuda and the British Virgin Islands);
- a Member State of the European Union or European Economic Area, including any overseas country, territory or dependency of such a Member State or
- an “approved country” (being any jurisdiction that is designated as having measures for combatting money laundering and the financing of terrorism which are equivalent to that of the Cayman Islands under the Proceeds of Crime Act (2020 Revision)) or any overseas country, territory or dependency of such “approved country”.
Where the owner of the ship or yacht is not resident in the Cayman Islands, the Merchant Shipping Act provides that the owner must appoint a “representative person” in relation to the vessel before they can proceed to register the vessel under the Cayman Islands flag. The representative person can either be an individual resident in the Cayman Islands, or a company incorporated in the Cayman Islands and having a place of business there. The owner must maintain the appointment of a representative person as long as the vessel remains registered under the Cayman Islands flag.
Provision of Representative Person Services
Conyers Financial Institutions Group (“FIG”) is able to act as representative person in respect of any Cayman Islands Registered vessels.
For a competitive annual fee, an owner can appoint Conyers FIG to act as representative person on behalf of the owner in respect of the vessel for the purposes of the Merchant Shipping Act and to perform all the functions of a representative person required by, and in accordance with, the Merchant Shipping Act in respect of the vessel.
About Conyers FIG
In the Cayman Islands, the client services work is carried out by Conyers FIG. We provide a wide range of directorship, secretarial, trust, regulatory, governance and corporate administration services to the shipping industry. Our professionals work in partnership with international clients, financial institutions, investment funds, high net worth individuals and others.
If you have any questions or would like to discuss the requirement for a representative person or the services which Conyers FIG are able to offer further, then please feel free to contact us.