According to the rules established by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), it is stated that the assignment of IMO Numbers will be made to new and existing ships engaged in international voyages, but Maritime Administrations may request the assignment of IMO Numbers to ships operating only on national voyages.
The necessity of calculating Turkish Maritime Trade fleet statistics in accordance with international standards has resulted in the need to assign a unique IMO Number to ships operating only in national waters among the ships registered in our flag registry.
With this decision; maritime vehicles that do not qualify as ships, private yachts, ships for special service (such as Mission/Patrol Ships, Lightships, Pilot Ships, Pilot Boats, Mooring Boats, Service Motorboats, Agent Boats, Marine Ambulances, Marine Sweeper Ships, Rescue Boats), warships, and fishing ships, except for wooden ships, are included in the following categories:
• Ships of 100 GT and above,
• Fishing vessels with internal combustion engines, over 12 meters in length and certified for international voyages, even if under 100 GT,
• Passenger ships under 100 GT and drilling and research vessels engaged in international voyages will be assigned IMO Numbers.
On the other hand, based on the recommendations of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) Rec.13-13 and the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) Decision 41/2017/6, ships registered in our country’s fishing fleet within this scope are required to obtain an IMO number.
The IMO Number can be obtained free of charge through the site “htttp:/imonumbers.ihs.com” or by sending ship information to the IHS Maritime & Trade email address “ship.imo@ihs.com.”
In this regard, it is important to ensure that ships operating on national voyages (including inland waters) within the mentioned scope, as well as ships engaged in international voyages, obtain IMO Numbers, and that IMO Numbers are recorded in the Umurbey system without any change to the documents.
If you have any questions regarding this newsletter, please feel free to contact us 24/7 using the contact information below.
Best regards,
