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Transport and Communications Agency

Selling a boat

When you sell a registered boat, draw up a deed of transfer and make sure that the boat’s registration details are updated. This page explains how to submit a notification of transfer and provide a certificate to the buyer.

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Seller: follow these steps

  1. Step 1

    Create either a certificate or submit a notification of transfer. Do not do both.

    If you submit a notification of transfer after creating a certificate, the certificate will become invalid.

    By submitting a notification of transfer, you ensure that your responsibility for the boat ends on the correct date of transfer, even if the buyer does not register the boat in their name.

    Once you have sold the boat, do not deregister it or submit any other registration notifications for it. If you sell the watercraft abroad or to the Åland Islands, see the special situation You have sold the boat abroad or to the Åland at the end of this page.

  2. Step 2

    Always complete a deed of transfer

    Always complete a separate deed of transfer with the buyer.

  3. Step 3

    Log in to our e-service and choose either to create a certificate or submit a notification of transfer

    Create a certificate or

    A certificate is a six-character code. The buyer can use it to make changes to the boat’s ownership and holder details electronically. The certificate is valid for 30 days from the date it is created.

    Submit a notification of transfer

    Select the boat you have sold from the boats you own. Then select the Submit a notification of transfer service. You can submit a notification of transfer electronically for a transfer that took place no more than four months ago.

    Submitting a notification of transfer is free of charge.

    Enter the date of transfer and the details of all new owners. If the new owner is a person, you need their last name, first name and personal identity code. If the new owner is an organisation, you need its Business ID.

    Automated decision-making is used in the service.

If you are unable to submit your registration electronically, you may visit any registration office of your choice. 
Remember to also bring proof of identity. When visiting a contractual registration service provider, bring the deed of transfer with you. An electronic certificate can only be used in e-services. 

  1. See where the most suitable registration service point for you is located.
  2. Fill in the registration notification form in advance. All mandatory information is marked with an asterisk (*). Make sure you have this information before your visit.

Special situations

Deregister a boat

If you know the new owner’s name and exact address but do not have their personal identity code or Business ID, send the notification of transfer to Traficom for processing.

Send the completed notification form and a copy of the deed of transfer to Traficom by post or email.

Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom
PO Box 320
FI-00059 TRAFICOM

kirjaamo(at)traficom.fi

If you do not have the new owner’s personal identity code or Business ID or their address, submit a notification of transfer to an unknown person.

If you, as the seller, are not the owner entered in the watercraft register, you must provide the buyer with documents showing the chain of ownership from the owner entered in the register to you.

Before the sale, the buyer should check that the boat is registered and who is entered in the register as its owner. The buyer may also require you to register the boat in your name before the sale.

A boat you have built yourself must have been in your own use for at least five years before you can sell it. If you want to sell the boat earlier, you must obtain CE marking for the boat.

Who can submit a registration notification?

An owner who is at least 15 years old can submit a registration notification for a watercraft.

If the boat has multiple owners, any one of them can submit the notification independently with the consent of the other owners.

You can also submit a registration notification electronically on behalf of another person or organisation if you have been granted a Suomi.fi authorisation to do so.

If you submit the notification on behalf of another person by means other than the electronic service, you must have the right to act on their behalf. However, you do not need to present a power of attorney when submitting the notification.

When a watercraft is owned by an estate

The beneficiaries of a deceased person's estate agree that one of them will handle the sale of the boat and sign the bill of sale on behalf of the estate.

You do not need to present the estate inventory deed to prove that you are a beneficiary of the estate. When you sign the bill of sale, you are responsible for ensuring that all beneficiaries of the estate have agreed to the sale of the boat.

In the Seller section of the bill of sale, enter the deceased person's name, the words "on behalf of the deceased person's estate" and your own name.

Give the signed bill of sale to the new owner. The new owner is responsible for registering the change of ownership.

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