Shipping 2025

SWEDEN Law and Practice Contributed by: Michele Fara, Ninos Aho, Paula Bäckdén and Anders Leissner, Advokatfirman Vinge KB

1. Maritime and Shipping Legislation and Regulation 1.1 Domestic Laws Establishing the Authorities of the Maritime and Shipping Courts The Swedish Maritime Code (1994:1009) estab - lishes seven maritime courts in Sweden whose internal jurisdiction is purely geographical. The maritime courts are exclusively competent in respect of matters governed by the Maritime Code, such as cargo claims, charterparty dis - putes, liability funds and limitation of liability. Disputes under marine insurance contracts are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Swed - ish Dispascheur. 1.2 Port State Control Sweden is bound by the EU Port State Control Directive (2009/16/EC) and is party to the Paris Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control. Port state control is carried out by the Maritime Administration under the Transport Authority, which is also the authority to which marine casualties are reported. If a crime is suspected to have been committed, the casu - alty is investigated by the marine prosecutor in co-operation with the Coast Guard and/or the marine police. 1.3 Domestic Legislation Applicable to Ship Registration The registration and nationality of vessels is governed by Chapter 1 of the Swedish Maritime Code (1994:1009). The practical aspects of reg - istration are governed by the Ordinance on Ves - sel Registration (1975:927).

1.4 Requirements for Ownership of Vessels A vessel of which more than 50% is owned by Swedish citizen(s) or company/companies is considered Swedish and must be registered in the Maritime Registry. The vessel can be con - sidered non-Swedish, and thus not subject to registration, if it is registered in an official registry of another EU or European Economic Area (EEA) state and is part of a business established in that state, and if the vessel is directed and controlled therefrom. Separate rules apply to vessels not used in a business. A vessel under construction can be registered. 1.5 Temporary Registration of Vessels A vessel can be temporarily registered for up to one month if registration in Sweden is a condi - tion for deletion in the vessel’s current registry. Dual registration is not expressly prohibited, meaning that the law does not prohibit a bare boat registration in another registry. However, there is no law expressly allowing it either, which is sometimes required by the bare boat registry. 1.6 Registration of Mortgages Vessels are registered with the Maritime Registry held by the Swedish Transport Authority. Mort - gages can be granted over a registered vessel by the ship-owner by handing over the deed of mortgage issued by the same authority to the lender in exchange for a loan. Such mortgage may be registered with the Maritime Registry but such registration is not a precondition for the mortgage to be effected. 1.7 Ship Ownership and Mortgages Registry Transcripts of the registration of a vessel, includ - ing any registered mortgages, are available to the public from the Maritime Registry by request to the authority.

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