By eliminating property restrictions, Panama now holds one of the largest Marine Mercantile Fleets in the world.

Factors such as the lack of nationality requirements referring to the property of a vessel registered under a Panamanian Flag, the fact that the owner of the vessel may be a natural person or a corporation, Panamanian or a foreigner, no weight or age requirements for the vessel and reasonable registry costs, have made of our country one of the main open registry for vessels.

1. Advantages

- Panama has an Open Register for Vessels. This means that any person or corporation, of any nationality or place of construction can register the vessel with a Panamanian flag. This is known as "Flag of Convenience" or "Flag of Refuge".

- According to the latest data there have been 9,957 vessels with Panamanian Flags, for a grand total of 138 million tonnage

- The vessel registration procedure is quick and simple.

- All profits from vessel activities with a Panamanian flag are tax excempt.

- Tax exemption over utilities for vessels less than 20 years old.

- No minimum tonnage requirements.

2. Costs

In order to register a private vessel the following payments must be made:

a. In case of foreign owners; US$1,500.00 in taxes for the Maritime Authority, or if the owner is national; US$1,000.00, in taxes for the Maritime Authority.

b. Our professional fee is US$850.00 and includes the following:

- Procedure and Acquisition of the Provisional Navigation License.

- Procedure and Acquisition of the Provisional Radio License.

- Procedure and Acquisition of the Permanent Navigation License, valid for two years.

- Procedure and Acquisition of the Permanent Radio License, valid for two years.

- Courier expenses.

3. Documents Necessary to Register your Yacht

a) Provisional Register; Complete the following Application Form

b) Permanent Register; The following documents are required:

- Power of Attorney granted to our firm in order to represent the vessel before the Maritime Authority. (Model provided by Delvalle & Delvalle).

- Purchase and Sale contract that proves that the actual owner acquired the vessel (Bill of Sale). If the vessel is of new construction you must provide the Construction Certificate.

- Acceptance of Purchase and Sale contract. (Model provided by Delvalle & Delvalle).

- Document that proves the cancellation of the Previous Register. (This is not required for new vessels).

- Application Form for the Radio License. (Model provided by Delvalle & Delvalle).

4. Procedure

The procedure involved in registering a vessel consists of two steps; the first step it to obtain a provisional navigation license which may be obtained by providing a copy of the required documents by fax or by presenting a request to the Maritime Authority where it states that the original documentation will be presented at a future date.

The second step would involve obtaining a Permanent Navigation License; once the provisional license is issued a six (6) month period is granted for the presentation of the original documents. Once the documentation is presented you obtain a Provisional License in a period no longer than three (3) weeks.

The provisional License is good for two years.