Registering a merchant ship with a Certificate of Registry

If you are the owner of a merchant ship and wish to fly the Dutch flag, you must register your vessel in the Nederlands vlagregister (Netherlands flag register). If your application is approved, the Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate (ILT) will issue a zeebrief (Certificate of Registry) confirming the vessel’s right to fly the Dutch flag.

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Property register and flag register

Your vessel will be successively registered in 2 registers: the property register and flag register.

Kadaster (the Netherlands’ Cadastre, Land Registry and Mapping Agency) registers your vessel as property through a process known as teboekstelling. This confirms you are the owner of the vessel. This is a requirement for obtaining a Certificate of Registry.
The ILT enters your seagoing vessel in the Netherlands flag register and issues the Certificate of Registry. Vessels not registered in the flag register do not hold a valid Certificate of Registry and are not allowed to fly the Dutch flag.

Owner and managing owner

To be registered in the Netherlands flag register, the law requires that the managing owner has an office in the Netherlands that the ILT can contact.

When completing the registration application, you must indicate whether:

You will operate the ship yourself from an establishment in the Netherlands. In this case, you are considered the scheepsbeheerder (managing owner) under the Wet zeevarenden (Seagoing Vessels Crew Act, in Dutch).
You will have the ship operated by a company established in the Netherlands. In this case, you do not need to set up an establishment yourself but will choose domicile at this company’s office. The company is then considered the scheepsbeheerder (managing owner) under the Wet zeevarenden (Seagoing Vessels Crew Act, in Dutch). This managing owner may also be the International Safety Management (ISM) manager, but this is not required.

The Certificate of Registry will name you as the owner. The managing owner will act as the primary contact for the ILT.

Certificate of Registry and provisional Certificate of Registry

The Certificate of Registry is your vessel’s proof of nationality. It confirms your right to fly the Dutch flag.

It is advisable to apply for a provisional Certificate of Registry first. A provisional Certificate of Registry grants your vessel temporary Dutch nationality, allowing you to obtain all necessary certificates for navigation before the final Certificate of Registry is issued.

A provisional Certificate of Registry is valid for 6 months. You must complete the remaining registration steps and obtain the final certificate within that period.

Required attachments

You must upload several attachments relating to the owner, the managing owner and the vessel with your application. If you have any questions, please email registratie@ilent.nl.

Attachments about the owner and managing owner

There are legal requirements concerning vessel ownership and the registered office of your business or the business acting as managing owner. There are 2 possible scenarios:

If you, as the owner, have an establishment in the Netherlands, you must upload an extract from the Kamer van Koophandel, KVK (Chamber of Commerce of the Netherlands) for the business operating the ship. This extract must not be older than 3 months.

Additionally, you must provide copies of the necessary documentation based on your legal status:

If you, the owner, are a natural person

If you, as the owner, are a natural person, you must upload a copy of your passport or a statement from a notary with your name, address and nationality.

If you, the owner, are a legal entity

If you, as the owner, are a legal entity, you must upload a copy of the current articles of association of the company and a statement from a notary listing the names and addresses of the directors.

If you, the owner, are a company that is not a legal entity

If you, as the owner, are a company that is not a legal entity, you must upload a copy of the partnership agreement and a statement from a notary listing the names and addresses of the jointly and severally liable partners or members of the association.

If you, as the owner, do not have an establishment in the Netherlands, you must appoint a managing owner based in the Netherlands to handle the operational management of the ship. In this case, you must submit an extract from the Kamer van Koophandel, KVK (Chamber of Commerce of the Netherlands) for the business acting as the managing owner. This extract must not be older than 3 months.

Additionally, you must provide copies of the necessary documentation based on the legal status of the managing owner:

If the managing owner is a legal entity

If the managing owner is a legal entity, you must provide a copy of the company’s articles of association and a statement from a notary listing the names and addresses of the directors.

If the managing owner is a company that is not a legal entity

If the managing owner is a company that is not a legal entity, you must provide a copy of the partnership agreement and a statement from a notary listing the names and addresses of the jointly and severally liable partners or members of the association.

Attachments about the ship

In addition to the above, you must submit the following attachments about the ship:

A copy of the international meetbrief (Tonnage Certificate, in Dutch) or provisional international Tonnage Certificate.
A copy of the purchase contract, builder’s certificate, or other proof of ownership or transfer of ownership under particular or universal title.
A copy of the class certificate for the engine, including the engine’s Revolutions Per Minute (RPM), power output and engine number.

Applying to fly the Dutch flag in 5 steps

Complete the online form Application for a seagoing vessel to fly the Dutch flag to apply for either a provisional or a final Certificate of Registry through the ILT.
Apply for a nationaliteitstoets (nationality assessment, in Dutch) through Kadaster. You will receive a Mededeling Nationaliteit (Notification of Nationality, in Dutch) from Kadaster.
Apply to register your vessel as property through Kadaster. You will receive a Bericht van Inschrijving (Notice of Registration). Kadaster will also notify the ILT of the property registration.
The ILT will request that you complete registration in the Netherlands flag register. You must use the online form Application for a seagoing vessel to fly the Dutch flag again for this.
The ILT will issue the final Certificate of Registry confirming registration in the Netherlands flag register.

Urgent application for provisional Certificate of Registry

You can submit an urgent application only in situations of proven economic, social, or political importance. The ILT will assess whether this is the case.

For urgent applications, send an email to registratie@ilent.nl. Start the subject line with ‘URGENT’ and the vessel’s name.

Certificate of Registry fee

In 2025, the fee for issuing a Certificate of Registry is €215, as set out in the Regeling tarieven transportsectoren (Transportation Sectors Tariffs Scheme, in Dutch). This fee may change yearly.

You may still be required to pay the fee even if you withdraw your application. If you wish to withdraw your application, please contact the ILT.

No copies of Certificates of Registry

The ILT does not issue official copies of Certificates of Registry. If you have not received your original certificate, the ILT can resend it to the address you provided in the online form. Please ensure this address is correct.

To find out more about having a Certificate of Registry resent to you, please contact the ILT.