Can ships owned by Vietnamese organizations or individuals fly foreign national flags?

Article 30 of Decree No. 171/2016/ND-CP regulates the conditions for ships owned by Vietnamese organizations and individuals to register to fly foreign national flags as follows:

Article 30. Registration requirements for a ship under the ownership of a Vietnamese entity for sailing under the foreign flag

1. The ships purchased or newly built of state-owned enterprises or enterprises with state contributions must be registered for sailing under the Vietnamese flag in conformity with regulations herein, except for the cases prescribed in Clause 3 of this Article.

2. A ship under the ownership of a Vietnamese entity without the state funding may be registered for sailing under the foreign flag according to the shipowner’s decision. Within 30 days as from the date of registry of ship for sailing under the foreign flag, the shipowner must send a copy of Certificate of registry of ship to the Vietnam Registrar of Ship for management.

3. A Vietnamese-flagged ship which is under the hire-purchase contract or the bareboat charter with a foreign entity may be registered for sailing under the foreign flag if it is requested by the shipowner.

4. Regulations in this Article shall also apply to floating production storage and offloading units, and mobile offshore drilling units.

Article 31 of Decree No. 171/2016/ND-CP regulations on procedures for registration of ships flying foreign flags

Article 31. Procedures for registration of ship for sailing under the foreign flag

1. Procedures for registration of a ship for sailing under the foreign flag shall be carried out in conformity with regulations of the Law of the country of which the flag is flied by that ship.

2. A Vietnamese-flagged ship which is chartered or under the hire-purchase contract with a foreign entity must be deregistered in conformity with regulations in Article 19 of this Decree before it is registered for sailing under the foreign flag.

Ships owned by Vietnamese organizations and individuals can be registered to fly foreign national flags if they satisfy the conditions and carry out registration procedures according to law.