Shipping 2026

ISRAEL Law and Practice Contributed by: Joseph Sprinzak and Rahel Rimon, J.SPRINZAK

in certain circumstances. Separate registries are kept for each port. In addition, the Shipping (Foreign Vessel Under Con - trol by Israeli Interests) Law – 2005 provides that any vessel that is not eligible for registration in the Regis - ter in accordance with the conditions specified in the foregoing, but which is controlled by Israeli interests (as these terms are defined in this Law), must be reg - istered in Israel in a registry book, which is customar - ily referred to as the Secondary Register (or the Grey Register), regardless of its ownership registration in a foreign registry. A vessel so registered shall be subject to the technical supervision of the Israeli Ministry of Transport and to the manning regulations with respect to the employment of Israeli crew members. Nonethe - less, various exemptions are available in respect of Israeli vessels, set out in Section 6 of the Shipping (Seamen) (Manning of Ships and Tugs with Israeli Crew) Regulations – 2016; for example, in circum - stances relating to the area of trade of the ship or the security situation relating to the voyage of the vessel, the chartering of the vessel or unusual circumstances concerning the technical operation of the vessel, and the owner’s ability to control the vessel. Israeli law does not provide for bareboat-charter reg - istration of foreign ships under the Israeli flag, nor does it provide for the bareboat-charter registration of Israeli flag ships under a foreign flag. 1.4 Requirements for Ownership of Vessels A vessel owned by the State of Israel, an Israeli citi - zen or a company registered in Israel or owned by a foreign company, where more than 50% of the shares in the vessel are owned by an Israeli citizen, must be registered in the Israeli vessel registry. Israeli law allows the registration in Israel of a vessel, less than 50% of which is Israeli-owned, upon special applica - tion to the Minister of Transport. Similarly, where more than 50% of a vessel is Israeli-owned, the owner may apply to the Minister of Transport for permission not to register the vessel. A non-Israeli may register an interest in an Israeli ves - sel, provided that this registration does not preclude the vessel from being registered as an Israeli vessel

and, as previously noted, a foreign vessel controlled by Israeli interests must be registered in Israel. Vessels under construction in Israel or abroad may also be registered in certain circumstances. 1.5 Temporary Registration of Vessels Temporary registration of vessels is permissible in accordance with Section 16 of the Shipping (Vessels) Law – 1960 in respect of vessels located in foreign ports. The temporary registration is effective for six months but may be extended for up to one year. In all cases, the temporary registration lapses within seven days of the vessel first reaching an Israeli port. Dual registration is not permitted, except in the case of foreign vessels controlled by Israeli interests. See 1.3 Domestic Legislation Applicable to Ship Regis- tration . 1.6 Registration of Mortgages The process for registration of a mortgage before the Registrar of Vessels is a simple commercial financing procedure. The agreement, setting out the degree of the mortgage and conditions for repayment, must be drafted in writing, and one copy thereof must be deliv - ered to the Registrar and entered into the vessel’s file. When both parties have signed the mortgage deed before the Registrar, the Registrar approves the deed and registers it in the Register on the page corre - sponding to the vessel in question. The same proce - dure is followed when the owner of the vessel wishes to “increase the mortgage amount”, “transfer the mortgage”, “change the terms of the mortgage” or “delete the mortgage” from the Register of Vessels. If a lien is imposed on a vessel by virtue of a compe - tent court decision, and a written order is produced to the Registrar, the Registrar will record the court’s order in the Register of Vessels, without being under an obligation to notify the vessel owner that such an entry has been made. Finally, it should be noted that, if the grantor of the mortgage (the mortgagor) is a company, the mortgage must also be registered as a charge with the Registrar of Companies. All docu - ments submitted to the Registrar may be drawn up in English or Hebrew.

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