### Merchant Shipping (Registration) Ordinance 《商船(註冊)條例》

32. Application of Ordinance in relation to ships provisionally registered
Except as otherwise provided expressly or by necessary implication the provisions of this Ordinance apply to and in relation to provisional registration and ships provisionally registered as they apply to and in relation to registration and to registered ships.

33. Custody of certificate
(1) No person having possession or control of a certificate of registry of a ship shall—
(a) detain such a certificate by reason of a claim by an owner mortgagee, charterer or other person to any title to, lien or charge on, or interest in, the ship; or
(b) fail, without reasonable excuse, to deliver the certificate on request to the person entitled to custody of it for the purpose of the lawful navigation of the ship, or to the Registrar or any other person entitled by law to require its delivery.
(2) Any person who contravenes subsection (1) commits an offence and is liable to a fine at level 3 and to imprisonment for 6 months.(Amended E.R. 1 of 2022)
(3) If, in any proceedings in respect of an offence against this section in relation to a certificate of registry the court or a magistrate is of the opinion that the certificate is, or should be treated as, lost, the court or magistrate shall make an order to that effect and cause a copy of the order to be served on the Registrar.

34. Use of improper certificate
(1) The master, owner or demise charterer of a ship shall not use, or permit the use of, for the purpose of the navigation of the ship, a certificate of registry not legally granted and in force in respect of the ship.
(2) Where subsection (1) is contravened, the master and the owner or demise charterer commit an offence and each is liable to a fine at level 5 and to imprisonment for 1 year.(Amended E.R. 1 of 2022)

35. Replacement of lost, etc. certificate
Where a certificate of registry of a ship is mislaid, lost or destroyed, the Registrar shall upon application and upon receipt of a declaration by the master, owner, demise charterer, representative person or other person authorized by the owner or demise charterer, stating, to the best of the declarant’s knowledge and belief the facts of the case, grant a new certificate of registry in substitution for the original certificate.

36. Application of preceding sections to certificate of provisional registry
Sections 33, 34 and 35 shall apply in relation to a certificate of provisional registry as they apply in relation to a certificate of registry.

### Merchant Shipping (Registration) Ordinance 《商船(註冊)條例》

37. Proper colours
(1) The proper colours of a registered ship shall be the flags specified in Schedule 1 flown in the manner specified in that Schedule.
(2) A registered ship may at any time, and shall, unless exempted by the Director under subsection (2A), on entering and leaving any port, fly the proper colours. (Amended 11 of 1998 s. 2)
(2A) The Director may exempt a registered ship from the requirement to fly the proper colours under subsection (2). (Added 11 of 1998 s. 2)
(3) No registered ship shall fly any colours purporting to be or closely resembling the proper colours which are not the proper colours.
(4) A ship, not being a registered ship, shall not—
(a) except with the permission of the Director, fly the proper colours of a registered ship; or
(b) fly any colours which purport to be or closely resemble the proper colours.
(5) Where subsection (2), (3) or (4) is contravened the master of the ship concerned commits an offence and is liable—
(a) in the case of a contravention of subsection (2), to a fine at level 2; and
(b) in the case of a contravention of subsection (3) or (4), to a fine at level 3.(Amended E.R. 1 of 2022)
(6) Any officer of the Marine Department authorized by the Director for the purpose may—
(a) board any ship upon which any colours are flown in contravention of this section; and
(b) seize, take away and dispose of any such colours.
(7) Any person who hinders or obstructs an officer in the exercise of his powers under subsection (6) commits an offence and is liable to a fine at level 3.(Amended E.R. 1 of 2022)

38. Application and interpretation of Part V
(1) This Part shall not apply to a ship which is registered by virtue of section 11(1)(b).
(2) In this Part, unless the context otherwise requires, a reference to a ship includes a reference to a share in or part of a ship.

39. Transfer of ships
(1) For the purposes of registration under this Ordinance, the transfer of a registered ship shall be effected by a bill of sale.
(2) The bill of sale shall—
(a) contain such of the description of the ship contained in the certificate of survey as is sufficient to identify the ship to the satisfaction of the Registrar; and
(b) be executed by the transferor in the presence of, and be attested by, one or more witnesses.

### Merchant Shipping (Registration) Ordinance 《商船(註冊)條例》

40. Declaration of transfer
(1) Subject to this section, where a registered ship is transferred in accordance with section 39 or 79, the transferee shall not be entitled to be registered as an owner of the ship until he, or in the case of a body corporate the person authorized under section 84 to make declarations on behalf of the body corporate, has made and signed a declaration of transfer in the specified form referring to the ship and containing—
(a) a statement of the qualification of the transferee to own a ship registered in Hong Kong, or if the transferee is a body corporate, of such circumstances of the constitution thereof as prove it to be a qualified person; and
(b) a statement that, to the best of his knowledge and belief, a majority interest in the ship will upon transfer be owned by one or more qualified persons.
(2) In the application of this section to a ship which is not wholly owned by qualified persons, subsection (1)(a) shall have effect only in relation to qualified persons.
(3) Subsection (1) shall not apply where the Government is the transferee.

41. Registration of transfer
(1) Upon lodgment of the bill of sale and the declaration of transfer (if required), the Registrar shall enter in the register the name of the transferee as owner of the ship, and shall endorse on the bill of sale—
(a) the fact of that entry having been made; and
(b) the day and hour of making the entry.
(2) Bills of sale shall be entered in the register in the order of their lodgment.

42. Transmission of ship by operation of law
(1) Where the property in a ship is transmitted to any person by any lawful means other than a transfer under section 39 or 79, and a majority interest in the ship remains in the ownership of one or more qualified persons, the person or persons to whom the ship is transmitted shall make and sign a declaration of transmission in the specified form containing—
(a) such of the description of the ship contained in the certificate of survey as is sufficient to identify the ship to the satisfaction of the Registrar;
(b) the statements referred to in section 40(1)(a) and (b); and
(c) a statement of the manner in which and the person or persons to whom the property has been transmitted.
(2) The declaration of transmission shall be accompanied by such evidence of the transmission as may be specified in instructions or as the Registrar may reasonably require.
(3) Upon lodgment of the declaration of transmission and the evidence required under subsection (2), the Registrar shall enter in the register the name of the person or persons entitled under the transmission as owner of the ship the property in which has been transmitted.
(4) Where there is more than one such person referred to in subsection (3), all such persons shall be considered as joint owners of the whole of the property transmitted.