Fill in and print the Notification of reflagging a vessel to fly the Finnish flag
Fill in Notification of reflagging a vessel to fly the Finnish flag (External link) and send it to Registry (External link).
Are you in the process of registering a vessel purchased in Finland used for merchant shipping? See registration instructions from here.
Check the documents
If you have purchased a used ship, you will need the original or a notarised copy of the Bill of Sale and, if necessary, also the Memorandum of Agreement and the Protocol of Delivery and Acceptance.
If you have purchased a new ship, you can instead of the Memorandum of Agreement submit the original or a notarised copy of the Builders Certificate, and the Protocol of Delivery and Acceptance.
The ship's documents of title can be submitted as copies if ownership was transferred within the last two months. In this case the original or notarised copies of the ship's documents of title must be delivered to the register to be checked within two months of the transfer of ownership.
If the final transfer of title to the ship is not clear from the documents (the transfer is usually tied to such transactions as the payment of the sales price), the receipt of payment or the Deed of Transfer will be required. The Bill of Sale and the Deed of Transfer for the ship must be signed by the buyer, the seller and two witnesses. The original documents will be returned to you.
You will also need the original Deletion Certificate or the Certificate of Non-Registration from the ship's country of sale. These prove that the ship has been deleted from the register of ships of the country of sale and that the ship is free of encumbrances or that the ship has not been entered in the register of ships in the country of sale.
You will need the international tonnage certificate issued by Trafi or Traficom. If the length of the ship is at least 12 metres, an international tonnage certificate must be issued for the ship before the registration. For a ship with a length of between 10 and 12 metres, a tonnage measurement certificate issued by the body carrying out the measurement is sufficient.
If you don't have a right to sign for the shipowner, you will also need a power of attorney.
Fill in and print the registration application
Check that you have entered the contact details of the applicant or the agent so we can easily be in contact you with, if need be. Please ensure that the name and domicile of the ship are the same on both the application and the tonnage measurement certificate.
Post the documents
Send the documents to the address on the application form.
Handling time is normally about 10 working days.
If the ship has continuous synopsis record, submit also the CSR application .
If the ship is used for foreign traffic, it must have Finnish signal letters. Send a free-form signal letter application by e-mail to kirjaamo@traficom.fi and alusrekisteri@traficom.fi.
A Finnish ship that is registered in the Transport register, has a possibility to apply financial support for merchant ships (Kauppamerenkulun tuki) if it meets the set criteria. More information about this , (only in finnish).