ADVOKS GLOBAL · KENYA
Merchant Shipping Act
42. Registration of transfer of ownership
Edition: 2023-12-11 · In force
42. Registration of transfer of ownership
(1)This section applies where—(a)there is in existence a written contract for the transfer of a ship or a share in a ship; and(b)pursuant to the terms of that contract, the owner has agreed—(i)to transfer the ship or any share in the ship to a person qualified to own Kenyan ships and who intends to register the ship in Kenya; and(ii)to provide the transferee with a bill of sale of the ship and a certificate stating that the ship is free from registered mortgages; and(c)upon the execution of the bill of sale the ship will be entitled to be registered in Kenya.(2)Where this section applies, the Registrar of Ships may, if satisfied that it is proper for him to do so—(a)enter in the register the particulars as may be set out in registration regulations subject to the modifications set out in subsection (3); and(b)grant to the transferee a certificate of registry which shall be valid for a period of twenty-one days from its date of issue.(3)The modifications referred to in subsection (2)(a) are that—(a)the name and description required to be entered shall be the name and description of the transferee of the ship or of the share therein; and(b)there shall also be entered a note that the registration is conditional upon a bill of sale transferring the ship or the share therein to the person or persons named in the register being produced to the Registrar of Ships within twenty-one days.(4)The Registrar of Ships shall only be satisfied that it is proper for him to make the entry in the register and grant a certificate of registry pursuant to subsection (3) if—(a)sections 26, 27, 28, and 29 and the registration regulations as modified by subsection (3) have been complied with; and(b)the transferee, or in the case of a body corporate the person authorised by this Act to make declarations on behalf of the body corporate, has made and signed a declaration, referring to the ship as described in the surveyor’s certificate issued pursuant to section 26, and containing the following particulars—(i)if he is a person qualified to own a Kenyan ship, a statement of his qualifications to own a Kenyan ship, or in the case of a body corporate, of such circumstances of the constitution and the business thereof as proof of it to be qualified to own a Kenyan ship;(ii)if the ship is a foreign ship, a statement of the ship’s foreign name;(iii)a statement that there is in existence a written contract for the transfer of the ship or a share in the ship and that the ship is not registered in Kenya; and(iv)a statement that the owner has agreed—(aa)to transfer the ship or any share in the ship to the transferee;(bb)to provide the transferee with a bill of sale of the ship and a certificate stating that the ship is free from registered mortgages; and(cc)to procure the termination of the registration of the ship in the country in which it is then registered; and(c)there is produced to the Registrar of Ships a certified copy of the contract referred to in the declaration made pursuant to paragraph (b).(5)Where a ship is registered under subsection (2), the transferee shall within twenty-one days after the date of issue of the certificate of registry under subsection (2)(b), deliver to the Registrar of Ships—(a)a declaration made in accordance with section 29; and(b)a bill of sale executed in accordance with a contract the certified copy of which has been produced to the Registrar of Ships in accordance with subsection (4)(c),and thereupon the Registrar of Ships shall make the entries in the register required by section 31 and issue a certificate of registry in accordance with section 34.(6)Where the transferee does not comply with the requirements of subsection (5) the registration of the ship shall automatically terminate at the expiration of the certificate of registry granted under subsection (2)(b) and the certificate of registry and any certificate issued in respect of the ship under this Act shall be delivered to the Registrar of Ships.