ISRAEL Law and Practice Contributed by: Joseph Sprinzak and Rahel Rimon, J.SPRINZAK
Port Regulations provide very detailed regula - tions relating to the conduct of vessels, safety and order in Israeli ports. The State of Israel implemented the Port State Control (PSC) inspection system in 1997, in accordance with International Maritime Organization (IMO) and International Labour Organization (ILO) resolu - tions. Section 99 of the Ports (Shipping Safety) Regula - tions, 1982, empowers the manager of the Ports Authority in the Ministry of Transport to appoint a casualty investigator in respect of any Israeli vessel wheresoever or foreign vessel located in the Israeli jurisdiction upon the occurrence of a maritime accident, including those involving seafarers. The investigator may examine wit - nesses, collect documents and evidence, and make recommendations to prevent similar acci - dents in the future. PSC inspections are conducted to ensure that foreign vessels calling at Israeli ports comply with international regulations and conventions. The SPA is responsible for all PSC activities and aims to inspect each and every tanker and pas - senger ship arriving at Israeli ports, as well as 25% of the container ships and general cargo, with an emphasis on bulk carriers. 1.3 Domestic Legislation Applicable to Ship Registration The principal law governing the registration of vessels in Israel is the Shipping (Vessels) Law – 1960. Other relevant legislation includes the Shipping (Registration & Marks) Law – 1962, the Shipping (Regulations of Building & Measure - ments) Law – 1961 and the Vessels (Mortgage & Transfer) Ordinance – 1948. Under Israeli law, all Israeli vessels must be registered, using the same process without dis -
tinction as to the size or purpose of the ves - sel concerned. Nonetheless, in practice, small boats, namely, vessels less than seven metres in length, are exempted from registration in the registry, and the details of the boat are main - tained in a separate small boats registry. Vessels under construction in Israel or abroad may also be registered in certain circumstances. Separate registries are kept for each port. In addition, the Shipping (Foreign Vessel Under Control by Israeli Interests) Law – 2005 provides that any vessel that is not eligible for registration in the Register in accordance with the condi - tions specified in the foregoing, but is controlled by Israeli interests (as these terms are defined in this Law), must be registered in Israel in a registry book, which is customarily referred to as the Secondary Register (or the Grey Regis - ter), 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 regula - tions with respect to the employment of Israeli crew members. Nonetheless, various exemp - tions 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, circumstances concerning the char - tering of the vessel or unusual circumstances concerning the technical operation of the vessel, the owner’s ability to control the vessel, etc. Israeli law does not provide for bareboat-charter registration of foreign ships under the Israeli flag, nor does it provide for the bareboat-charter reg - istration of Israeli flag ships under a foreign flag.
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