The revised Act on the Registration of Yachts and Other Vessels up to 24 Meters in Length went into effect on August 1, 2020. While watching how its implementation progresses, it's worth noting certain significant developments that will influence yacht owners who want to register their vessels with Polish registries.

The Freedom to select the registration authority.

The small number of registration authorities available is no longer sufficient to meet the needs of Poland's growing yachting industry. Especially since the new law allows both legal and natural persons from the EU to register their vessels with the Polish registry, and the registration authorities have recently had to deal with a massive influx of vessel owners and operators from the Netherlands and Belgium, where recent amendments to the yacht registration regulations have made them less favourable to the operators.

The new Act established the starosta (or county head) as a new authority (in addition to the existing sporting associations) in charge of registering boats under the newly established national registration system. At the same time, the local jurisdiction (or regionalization, if you prefer) of registration authorities has been abolished, in addition to the establishment of the starost as a new yacht registration authority. Anyone wishing to register a boat under the Polish flag currently has complete Freedom in selecting the registration authority. A yacht can be registered with any county office or applicable sports organization starting August 1, 2020, with all data eventually ending up in the unified registration.

Of course, it will take time for the new legal situation to "settle." We shouldn't expect every county office (or town with county status) to be completely prepared and knowledgeable about the new method, all the more so because the Reja 24 system is not for the faint of heart, especially for local government employees who have never dealt with yacht registration before.

The Freedom to choose a registration authority, on the other hand, is a significant convenience for owners and operators who want to register their ship under the Polish flag.

Please note that you must have a Polish mailing address.

The new law will undoubtedly benefit boat owners and operators from Poland and the EU.

As a result, it is somewhat unusual that the legislator should include a demand for a mailing address in Poland among the legal requirements to be completed by applicants. The rationale for this situation is unclear, as requiring foreign owners and operators to create a service address in Poland is sure to entail unnecessary complications.

When drafting an Act of such importance to yachting and aimed to enhance the Polish flag, one may expect the legislature to apply a more rational answer to this problem.

Licences for radio

It's worth noting that running a yacht under the Polish flag necessitates obtaining a licence to operate radio equipment on board. As a result, the vessel's owner or operator must apply for a radio licence with the Polish Office of Electronic Communications.

 In addition to the radio licence, the Office of Electronic Communications assigns the vessel a call sign and an MMSI (marine vessels) or ATIS (inland vessels) number, all of which are required by international law for navigation safety.

The natural person who owns the vessel must provide to the Office of Electronic Communications the required documentation confirming his or her qualifications to operate the radio equipment onboard the boat. The authorization procedure applies when applying for a radio licence.

The Office of Electronic Communications will only recognize qualifications issued by the Royal Yachting Association. This British organization provides sailing training in the case of an applicant who is not a Polish national. The body issues English proficiency certificates, which are among the most widely recognized in the world.

The requirement to establish one's qualifications does not apply to a legal person that owns the vessel and applies for a radio licence for it since it is assumed that such a legal person will not be the skipper/master of the vessel at the same time, as this position must be held by a natural person.

Previously, the registry accepted call signs issued by the Office of Electronic Communications, although such call signs could only be obtained if the vessel was registered in Poland. As a result, the owner or operator of the vessel was required to register it without a call sign and subsequently seek one from the Office of Electronic Communications. Following these procedures, the newly assigned call sign could be added to the yacht's record in the Polish registry.

The present Act on the Registration of Yachts and Other Vessels up to 24 Meters in Length and its Implementing Acts establish a new mechanism of collaboration between the yacht registration and the Office of Electronic Communications, which should make formalities easier to handle.

As a result of these amendments, when a radio licence for the use of radio equipment in the maritime and inland radio communication service is issued, it must include the following information and the Office of Electronic Communications will swiftly record such facts in the new registration whenever the licence is amended, revoked, or expires (within a maximum of 24 h).

The following information can be found in the registration entry:

• the call sign or marine MMSI number; 

• the radio license's validity period or date of revocation or expiration;

• the type of equipment.

This means that the Office of Electronic Communications will work closely with the new national registration and will be able to enter its own information utilizing ICT technologies.

The owner of a vessel who has been granted a radio licence will not have to be concerned about the status of their entry in the registry of vessels. The owner of a vessel who has received a radio licence will not have to worry about the state of its inclusion in the yacht registry, as it will be automatically updated with the new information.

Radio beacons for emergencies

In light of existing EU legislation and the widely defined safety of navigation, one's EPIRB beacon must be registered with the Civil Aviation Authority, which, like the Office of Electronic Communications, is expected to maintain continuous cooperation with the new registry and is required to promptly enter the following details in the registry:

• the Act performed: an entry in the records, an amendment to an entry, or the removal of an entry from the records; 

• the date of the entry in the records, amendment of an entry, or removal of an entry from the records; 

• the emergency beacon's identifying number.

The foregoing are just a few more thoughts on the new rules. What remains to be seen is whether local government officials will be effective in carrying out their new registration responsibilities. However, it appears that the vast majority of boats will continue to be registered with the relevant sporting associations this season – perhaps out of habit – at least until the waiting times begin to lengthen. contact us for Poland Boat Registration Services. we will provide you Affordable Yacht Registration in Holland.