Subsidies, fees

• German flag is comprehensively sponsored
• Overview of the subsidies and sponsorships
• Low-priced fees
• Overview of the most relevant fees

German flag is comprehensively sponsored

The German Federal Government supports shipping under the German flag with:

• subsidies for reducing ancillary labour costs,
• subsidies for training slots, and
• wage tax deduction in favour of employers

Furthermore, the „Stiftung Schifffahrtsstandort Deutschland“ (German shipping foundation) subsidises training of seafarers on ships flying the German or an EU flag.

Overview of the subsidies and sponsorships of the German flag

The following table shows a simplified overview of the promotion of the German flag by the Federal Government, the federal states and the „Stiftung Schifffahrtsstandort Deutschland“. Please find out about the individual conditions of support, in particular the application deadlines, from the legal provisions and funding guidelines which you can read about in our section on "Financial Matters". The following table only serves as a guide.

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Low-priced fees under German flag

Ship surveys, issuance of certificates, verifications of documents – the costs of these and other services of the German flag are covered by fees. The fees of the German flag are very reasonable: especially the costs of certificates regarding the ship are low priced in comparison to other flag states. The annual registration fee for ships does not exist under German flag either.

The costs of ship surveys of ships with a class are usually settled between shipowner and classification society in, so called, block fee contracts.

Changing to the German flag is particularly good value when the ship is already registered in a German shipping register and is currently trading under a foreign flag – this is the normal case. This is when no registration fees apply but only minor costs for the certificate of registry and further documents, if applicable, need to be covered.

For crew members working on German-flagged ships the medical fitness examination for seafarers is free of charge since the BG Verkehr covers the costs.

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Overview of the most relevant fees

The following table gives examples of fees of the German flag. Please take into consideration that only the rates listed in the fee ordinances are applicable and, particularly in regard to ship surveys, additional expenditures may accrue. Therefore, this table only serves as a guide.

If you want to know which certificates are necessary for a ship, we recommend our directory for ship certificates.

Abbreviations:

• BSH: Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency
• SD: Ship Safety Division of BG Verkehr
• BMDV-WS-BesGebV: BMDV-Wasserstraßen und Schifffahrt Besondere Gebührenverordnung
• BSHGebV: BSH-Gebührenverordnung
• GKNotG: Gerichts- und Notarkostengesetz
• TnGebV: Telekommunikations-Gebührenverordnung

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