Gibraltar Registry Featured in Fairplay
The Gibraltar Registry was recently featured in Fairplay magazine; key qualities mentioned include EU member status, Red Ensign Group membership and an attractive tax regime.
Gibraltar is more aligned with the UK and EU flag systems than the Isle of Man, which is part of the British Isles, writes Jem Newton
The head of the Gibraltar Maritime Administration, Richard Montado, told IHS Maritime that the territory’s ties with the UK extended to a very close relationship with the flag.
“We are a Red Ensign category one register, so we are in effect a British secondary register; ships registered in Gibraltar are British,” the GMA boss explained.
Gibraltar, far from the UK geographically, is paradoxically more aligned with the UK and EU flag systems than the Isle of Man, just 145km off the UK coast. “We are the only other EU member state register in the British system. The Isle of Man flag is outside the EU, just like the Cayman Islands and Bermuda,” he added.
EU treaties apply fully in Gibraltar. Although the territory is not considered part of the UK, the Gibraltar register is regarded by Brussels as a member state’s register. Gibraltar successfully markets its flag by a careful differentiation from the primary UK register.
“We have our own unique style with features that the UK flag doesn’t have. For instance, we offer registration under construction as a package and a more flexible tonnage tax system,” Montado explained.
The result has been a steady annual growth of 2–8% in the flagged fleet over the past decade. After marketing success, gross tonnage nearly doubled in 2012, when the flag took on some very large car carriers and box ships.
Because 70% of the territory’s fleet is owned or operated by Germans and its financial year ends in January, at this stage of the year a large number of vessels are in pre-registration, he pointed out.
“The main reason why the Gibraltar flag is attractive to German owners is taxation,” Montado told IHS Maritime. “The German government allows a certain percentage of the German-owned fleet to take advantage of tax benefits, provided the vessels are registered within the EU.
“That makes flags like Luxembourg and ourselves very attractive; our tonnage tax system is very popular with our clients, and like the UK flag we have customer service managers for all our vessels with a dedicated marine surveyor who forges a personal relationship with a cluster of companies.”
Gibraltar is also a common-law jurisdiction that gives banks and financiers legal rights to title that they would not enjoy under a civil-law administration such as Germany or France.
The next step for the GMA is a move into the Far East. “The Gibraltar government set up an office in Hong Kong two months ago, and we will try to use that as a springboard,” he said. “There will be a follow-up visit to China in September, so as to push our marketing campaign.”
Montado declared: “The main product we want to market is our ships-under-construction registration, particularly to Asian banks and shipyards.”
