Regulations

The procedures and activities concerning registration of ships and relevant obligations and requirements applicable to all ships enrolled in The International Merchant Marine Registry of Belize are governed by the following instruments: 

• Registration of Merchant Ships Act, 2010 

• Registration of Merchant Ships (Miscellaneous Provisions of 1991) 

• Registration of Merchant Ships (Vessels under 500 GT in service outside the territorial waters of Belize, 1991) 

• Registration of Merchant Ships (Pleasure Vessels, 1991) 

• Registration of Merchant Ships (Fishing Vessels of 24 meters in length and above) Safety Regulations, 1995 

• Registration of Merchant Ships (Cargo Vessels operating in the Caribbean Trading Area) Safety Regulations, 1997 

• Registration of Merchant Ships (Disciplinary Regulations, 1999) 

• Registration of Merchant Ships (Ship Security) Regulations, 2004  

• The High Seas Fishing Act, 2013 

• Registration of Merchant Ships (Standards of Training Certification and Watchkeeping) Regulations, 2023 

As a member of the International Maritime Organization and the International Labour Organization, Belize has ratified several International Conventions as follows: 

IMO 

• High Seas Convention 1958 

• Safety of Life at Sea, 1974 as amended, Protocol 1978, 1988 

• Loadlines, 1966 and amends, Protocol 1988 

• Tonnage Measurements of Ships, 1969  

• Prevention of Pollution by Ships, 1973 as modified by the Protocol of 1978 

• Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage, 1969, 1976, 1992 Protocols 

• Establishment of an International Fund for Compensation for Oil Pollution Damage 1971, 1976 and 1992 Protocols 

• Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972 

• Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims, 1976 

• Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping, 1978/1995 as amended 

• International Convention on Civil Liability for Bunker Oil Pollution Damage, 2001 

• Athens Convention Relating to the carriage of Passengers and their Luggage by Sea, 1974 and Protocol 2002 

• Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 

• Nairobi Wreck Removal Convention, 2007 

• IMO Amendment  

 

ILO 

Those relating to the maritime activities are as follows: 

• No. 138 – Minimum Age for Admission to Employment, 1976 

• No. 16 – Medical Examination of Young Persons (Sea), 1921

• No. 22 – Seamen’s Articles of Agreement, 1926

• No. 58 – Minimum Age (Sea) Revised 1936 No. 108

• No. 108 – Seafarers’ Identity Documents, 1958

• No. 111 – Discrimination (Employment and Occupation), 1958