Naval Agency to issue provisional certificates for right of ships to sail under Moldova's flag

Chisinau, 11 February /MOLDPRES/- The provisional certificates for the right of ships to sail under the flag of Moldova shall be issued by the Naval Agency, not by the consul as previously set. At the same time, the validity period of the provisional certificate was increased from 3 months to 6 months, according to the amendment of p.15 of the Rules for registration of ships in Moldova, operated today by the cabinet.

The provisions of the draft government decision refer to the issue of provisional certificates issued by the Naval Agency, attesting the right of ship bought or built in another state to sail under the flag of Moldova, when entering the relevant entries in the ship register or in the naval catalog. The certificates are valid until the permanent registration procedure of the ship and the issue of certificates attesting to the permanent registration, not more than six months.

After the October 2018 case, when the Spanish police intercepted a ship under the Moldovan flag carrying 1,400 kg of drugs, Prime Minister Pavel Filip asked the responsible people to tighten the procedures for registering vessels under the Moldovan flag and create a functional supervision mechanism after their registration.

According to UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) data, in 2017, the Republic of Moldova had 168 ships with a total tonnage of 703,000 tons. Other data show that about 350 ships were registered under the Moldovan flag.