A completely new regulation on shipping matters has been issued by the Minister of Transportation, for the purpose of the implementation of Articles 64 and 168 of Law No. 17 of 2008 regarding Shipping (the “Law”). There has not been any prior regulation on the same subject matter. This minister’s regulation is named Regulation No. PM 13/2012 regarding Ship Nationality and Registration (“Regulation”).

The Regulation contains 92 Articles that set out provisions on a ship’s:

  • ownership registration (as mandated by Article 168 of the Law), including its hypothecation (as mandated by Article 64 of the Law);
  • nationality documents (as mandated by Article 168 of the Law); and
  • flag;

and provides samples of the documents for the various matters regulated.

Regarding the registration, among the provisions are the following:

  • The registration of a ship is registration of the ship’s (i) ownership, (ii) hypothecation, and (iii) “other property rights”, which is defined as “shares in the ship [Article 2 (1)].
  • For their registration, ships are divided into three categories: (i) oceangoing ships, (ii) fishing boats, and (iii) inland waterways vessels (Article 6).
  • Ships which ownership can be registered in Indonesia are: (i) ships of at least 7 Gross Tonage; (ii) ships that belong to Indonesian citizens or legal legal entities; and (iii) ships that belong to joint venture Indonesian legal entities which majority shares are owned by Indonesian citizens.

Regarding the nationality, among the provisions are the following:

  • “Ship Nationality” is defined as “the legal relationship between the ship and the country under which flag the ship sails [Article 1 (12)].
  • “Indonesian Ship Nationality Certificate” is the certificate that grants to the ship the right to sail under the Indonesian flag [Article 1 (13)].

Chapter III stipulates the rules and procedures regarding the nationality identification of a ship, the required documentation, and the use of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Number.

The Regulation was issued on 10 February 2012 and has been effective as of the day of its issue.