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

43. Definitions in Part VI
(1) In this Part, unless the context otherwise requires—
mortgage (抵押) means a mortgage registered under this Part;
mortgagee (抵押權人) means the person whose name appears in the register as the holder of a mortgage;
obligation (義務) includes any present or future obligation;
ship (船舶) includes everything on board a ship belonging to the owner.
(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.

44. Mortgage of ship
(1) A registered ship may be made security for any obligation by way of a mortgage under this Ordinance.
(2) The instrument creating such a mortgage shall—
(a) be in the specified form;
(b) set out among other things—
(i) the name and address of each mortgagor;
(ii) the name and address (or, in the case of a body corporate, place of incorporation) of each mortgagee; and
(c) be duly executed by or on behalf of each mortgagor in the specified manner.
(2A) Where a person produces a copy of a document for provisional registration under section 27(2A), he shall also produce a confirmation by the mortgagee to the Registrar. (Added 9 of 2001 s. 9)
(2B) The confirmation mentioned in subsection (2A) shall—
(a) be in specified form;
(b) set out that the mortgagee—
(i) has sighted the original document; and
(ii) knows that the original document will not be produced to the Registrar at the time of registration. (Added 9 of 2001 s. 9)
(3) Upon lodgment of a mortgage instrument and any consents required pursuant to section 45(2), the Registrar shall enter in the register particulars of the mortgage and shall endorse on the mortgage instrument the date and time of registration.
(4) Mortgage instruments shall be registered in the order of their lodgment.

45. Priority of mortgages, etc.
(1) Where 2 or more mortgages are registered in respect of the same ship, priority among the mortgagees shall be in accordance with the order of registration of the mortgages, irrespective of the date upon which they were made or executed, and notwithstanding any express, implied or constructive notice.
(2) No mortgage instrument shall be registered except with the prior written consent of all the holders of mortgages then registered against the ship concerned.
(3) The priority accorded to a mortgage pursuant to subsection (1) shall, unless the holders of all registered mortgages having priority subsequent to such mortgage otherwise agree in writing, extend only to those obligations expressed to be secured by the mortgage instrument or any instrument referred to in the mortgage instrument.

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

46. Mortgagee not treated as owner
A mortgage of a registered ship does not have the effect of the mortgagee becoming, or the mortgagor ceasing to be, the owner of the ship except to the extent necessary to make the ship available as a security under the mortgage.

47. Mortgagee to have power of disposal
(1) A mortgagee of a registered ship shall have power absolutely to dispose of the ship and to give effectual receipts in respect of the disposal, but where there are 2 or more mortgages of the same ship, a subsequent mortgagee shall not, except under the order of a court, dispose of the ship without the consent of every prior mortgagee.
(2) A mortgagee of a registered ship who intends to dispose of the ship shall not dispose of the ship unless he has first given notice in writing to the Registrar of his intention so to dispose of the ship.
(3) Where the Registrar is notified by a mortgagee of the intention of that mortgagee to dispose of a ship, the Registrar shall forthwith inform each subsequent mortgagee of that ship accordingly.
(4) The disposal of a ship is not invalidated because of any failure to comply with a requirement of subsection (2) in relation to the disposal.

48. Transfer of mortgage
(1) A mortgage of a registered ship may be transferred to any person by an instrument of transfer which shall—
(a) be in the specified form;
(b) set out the name and address (or, in the case of a body corporate, place of incorporation) of the transferee; and
(c) be duly executed by or on behalf of each mortgagee in the specified manner.
(2) Upon lodgment of the instrument of transfer the Registrar shall enter in the register the name of the transferee as the mortgagee of the ship concerned and shall endorse on the instrument of transfer the date and time of such registration.

49. Transmission of mortgage by operation of law
(1) Where the interest of a mortgagee in a mortgage of a registered ship is transmitted to another person by any lawful means other than a transfer under section 48, that person shall make and sign a declaration of transmission, in writing, which shall set out—
(a) the name and official number of the ship;
(b) the name and address of each person from whom the interest is transmitted; and
(c) the name and address (or, in the case of a body corporate, place of incorporation) of the person to whom the interest is transmitted.
(2) The declaration of transmission shall be accompanied by such evidence of the transmission as may be specified in instructions.
(3) Upon lodgment of the declaration and the evidence required under subsection (2), the Registrar shall enter in the register the name of the person to whom the interest is transmitted as the mortgagee of the ship.

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

50. Discharge of mortgage
(1) Where a mortgage is discharged, the mortgage instrument with a memorandum of discharge in the specified form endorsed thereon or firmly affixed thereto, duly executed by each mortgagee shall be lodged by the mortgagor or mortgagee with the Registrar.
(2) The Registrar shall, upon the lodgment by the mortgagor or mortgagee of the mortgage instrument and memorandum of discharge, make an entry in the register to the effect that the mortgage has been discharged and, on that entry being made, any interest of the mortgagee under the mortgage vests in the mortgagor.
(3) Where the mortgage instrument cannot, for any reason, be lodged with the Registrar, there shall be lodged by the mortgagor or mortgagee with the Registrar, in substitution for the mortgage instrument and memorandum of discharge, a declaration by the mortgagee that the mortgage has been discharged and setting out—
(a) the name and official number of the ship;
(b) the name and address of each mortgagor;
(c) the name and address of each mortgagee;
(d) the date of the mortgage; and
(e) the date and time of entry of particulars of the mortgage in the register.
(4) In this section, mortgagor (抵押人), in relation to a ship, includes any person in whom, having regard to any intervening acts and circumstances, the interest of the mortgagee would have been vested if the mortgage had not been made.

51. Power of disposal by owner
The owner of a registered ship has power, subject to this Ordinance and to any rights and powers appearing in the register to be vested in any other person, absolutely to dispose of the ship and to give effectual receipts in respect of the disposal.

52. Trusts not recognized
Notice of a trust, express, implied or constructive, shall not be entered in the register or be receivable by the Registrar.

53. Equities not excluded
(1) Subject to sections 47, 51 and 52, beneficial interests may be enforced by or against the owner or mortgagee of a ship in respect of his interest in the ship in the same manner as in respect of any other personal property.
(2) In subsection (1) beneficial interests (實益權益) includes interests arising under contract and other equitable interests.