Cabotage permits for the vessels registered in the foreign countries registries are issued by the Federal Agency for Maritime and River Transport (Rosmorrechflot) on the basis of the shipowner’s or his authorized representative application containing information on the vessel, the shipowner, crew, and activities carried out by the vessel, as referred in the regulatory legal acts. These data should be confirmed by documents of the proper form. The decision of cabotage order issuing is made on or prior to 20 calendar days from the date of the application admission and it is issued by the order of the Federal Agency of Maritime and River Transport, which is sent to the applicant by mail or issued on or prior to 2 working days from the moment of the decision.
Issuing of cabotage permission becomes possible under the following conditions:
- There are no means of water transport that can perform the merchant shipping activity required by the applicant in the composition of vessels under the Russian flag;
- The vessel which is subject to cabotage permission has not been in the register of the Russian Federation vessels within the last five years before cabotage application making;
- The vessel meets the requirements of navigation safety and the marine environment protection and it can carry out activities without inflicting damage on environment and on the security public interests and on the Russian Federation Defence;
- None of the ports on the vessel requested route is closed to foreign vessels;
The cabotage permission for vessels under a foreign flag is issued in the form of an order from Rosmorrechflot and in fact represents a permit for the foreign vessel to operate or to carry out trips between seaports of Russia. The permission does not give a vessel under a foreign flag the right to navigate on inland waterways, since this right is granted by the State in accordance with the another procedure established by law.
The attorneys of “Inmarine” St. Petersburg Law Offices provide the following types of legal assistance in obtaining the cabotage permission for vessels under the foreign flag:
- Expert study of foreign corporate and vessel documents for compliance with the Russian Federation legislation, and documents justifying the issuing of cabotage permission: carriage of goods contract, contract for works, research works, charter party contract, contract for dredging or alluvial works, etc. Drafting, introduction of amendments to these documents.
- Consultation on obtaining international vessel documents for inland-waterways vessel (river and lake vessels);
- Justification for necessity to issue the cabotage permission for the vessel under a foreign flag based on statistic, economic and legal reasons;
- Making a contract between a foreign shipowner and a Russian company for carriage of cargo, towage in cabotage and (or) for performance of other merchant shipping activities.
- Making a maritime agency agreement and power of attorney, in case the shipowner acts through the local agent / charterer;
- Confirmation of vessel registration absence, in relation to which an application has been received, in any of Russian shipping registries during last 5 years before the date of application.
- Justification of ports absence that are closed for vessels under the foreign flag on the vessel applicable route.
- Drafting of an application for the cabotage permission to carry out carriage and towage operations, as well as other types of merchant shipping activities by a vessel under the foreign flag.
- Protection of legitimate rights and interests of the applicant in case of refusal to issue the cabotage permission for the vessel under foreign flag.
Examples of issuing the cabotage permissions for the vessels under the foreign flag:
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Ferry / car carrier AUTOPRESTIGE United European Car Cariers |
Dredger MP-40 STRABAG Wasserbau |
Chinese cable layer JIAN JI 3001 Rubezh-Remstroy, LLC |
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For advice and legal assistance in obtaining permission for cabotage, please contact us by e-mail sos@inmarin.ru.