International certificate

The issuance of an international certificate means that ownership has been made probable. The Swedish Cruising Association only issues certificates to private individuals living in Europe and their own privately owned pleasure boats. No intermediaries are accepted.

In order to get an international certificate you have to be a member of Swedish Cruising Association. 

To be sure that the ownership has been rendered credible only copy of original documents in Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish and English is accepted. If you have documents of other origin please address your application to authorised bodies in other EU countries. You have to supply the Bill of Sale.   

Please send an e-mail to: intcert@sxk.se  

Read more: International certificate for pleasure craft 

Fee for members: 1750 SEK

Boatregistration in the Swedish Cruising Association and the Swedish flag
In the international Law of the Sea Convention it is provided that there must be a genuine link between each vessel and its flag. This link is universally understood to be the owner's nationality, though it is possible to manipulate this by letting the vessel be owned by a company, which can have another nationality than the person controlling it. In any case, departure from the genuine link requirement exposes the vessel to being visited and arrested on the high seas and in foreign countries which stick to the principle.

However, the EU has departed from this through a series of decisions of the  EC court. The first concerned a Spanish fishing company called Factortame Ltd, and it was followed by others. Since these decisions the EU allows carrying another EU flag than the "genuine" one provided the owner resides permanently in the country whose flag he is carrying. In accordance with this the Swedish Maritime Code now provides in Chapter 1 section 1 that the Maritime Administration (now Transportstyrelsen) may on application grant the owner the right to carry the Swedish flag if the operation of the vessel is essentially under Swedish control or the owner has his permanent residence in Sweden. 

However, there is no penalty provided for carrying the wrong flag in Sweden, and it is thus relatively safe to do so. In many other countries this is however punishable, and on the high seas one may, as stated above, get into trouble for not having the correct flag.

Registration in a club register such as that of the Swedish Cruising Association does not confer any right to carry the Swedish flag. However, under the Maritime Code chapter 2 secton 1(2) vessels of 12 m lenth and 4 m breadth or more ("ships")  may obtain official Swedish registry in accordance with EU rules.

Hugo Tiberg
Professor emeritus of Maritime Law, at Stockholm University

2016-06-02 
The Swedish Cruising Association has stopped issuing international certificate to boaters in the Caribbean islands.
More and more people discover the benefits of international certificates. Many members testify to the benefits of having an international certificate for overseas trips. It facilitates contact with the authorities in many countries, not just in Europe.
Despite all the advantages, we are forced, unfortunately, stop issuing international certificate to boaters in Caribbean islands. This is because of the laborious application management and an inadequate postal service. We refer to corresponding authorities at home.

Per Berkhuizen
Executive Director