THE CONTRACTING PARTIES,

HAVING RECOGNIZED the desirability of determining by agreement certain rules relating to registration of rights in respect of ships under construction,

HAVE DECIDED to conclude a convention for this purpose, and thereto agreed as follows:

The Contracting States undertake that their national law shall contain provisions permitting the registration in accordance with the provisions of this Convention, in an official public register established by or under the control of the State, of the rights set out in Article 5 in respect of vessels which are to be or are being constructed within their territories.

The registration of such rights may be restricted to vessels which, under the national law of the State of registration, will be of a type and size making them eligible, when completed, for registration as sea-going vessels.

The Contracting States may restrict registration of such rights to cases where vessels are to be or are being constructed for a foreign purchaser.

The Contracting States shall allow registration of rights in respect of vessels which are to be or are being constructed irrespective of the nationality or domicile of the applicant. However, the foregoing shall not affect any provision of the national law of the State of registration restricting the acquisition of such rights by aliens or for controlling shipbuilding.

The effects of registrations under the provisions of this Convention as regards the national status of any vessel shall be determined by the law of the State where the vessel is to be or is being constructed.

No right in respect of a vessel which is to be or is being constructed within the territory of a Contracting State shall be admissible for registration in any other Contracting State.

Registration of rights in respect of a vessel which is to be or is being constructed shall be permitted when a contract for the building of a properly specified vessel has been executed or the builder declares that he has decided to build such a vessel for his own account.

However, the national law may make it a condition for registration that the keel has been laid or equivalent constructional work has been performed in the place of launching.

Titles to and mortgages and "hypothèques" on a vessel which is to be or is being constructed shall, on application, be entered in the register.

The effects of the registration of the rights set out in Article 5, including the ranking of mortgages and "hypothèques" between themselves, shall be determined by the law of the State where the vessel is to be or is being constructed; however, without prejudice to the provisions of this Convention, all matters relating to the procedure of enforcement shall be regulated by the law of the State where the enforcement takes place.

The ranking between registered mortgages and "hypothèques" on vessels under construction on the one hand and liens and rights of retention on such vessels on the other hand shall be determined according to the rules applicable to vessels registered after completion.

The national law may provide that the registered rights on a vessel under construction shall attach to materials, machinery and equipment which are within the precincts of the builder's yard and which by marking or other means are distinctly identified as intended to be incorporated in the vessel.

The rights set out in Article 5 which are registered in one of the Contracting States in accordance with the national law of such State, and the priority thereby obtained, shall be recognized in all other Contracting States.

No contracting State shall permit, except in the case of forced sale, the deregistration of the rights set out in Article 5 without the written consent of the holders of such rights.

A vessel which is being or has been constructed in a Contracting State shall not be eligible for registration in another Contracting State unless a certificate has been issued by the former State to the effect that the rights registered pursuant to Article 5 have been deregistered or that such rights will be deregistered on the day when the vessel is registered.

Any dispute between two or more contracting Parties concerning the interpretation or application of this Convention which cannot be settled through negotiation, shall, at the request of one of them, be submitted to arbitration. If within six months from the date of the request for arbitration the Parties are unable to agree on the organization of the arbitration, any one of those Parties may refer the dispute to the International Court of Justice by request in conformity with the Statute of the Court.

1. Each contracting Party may at the time of signature or ratification of this Convention or accession thereto, declare that it does not consider itself bound by Article 11 of the Convention. The other contracting Parties shall not be bound by this Article with respect to any contracting Party having made such a reservation.

2. Any contracting Party having made a reservation in accordance with paragraph 1 may at any time withdraw this reservation by notification to the Belgian Government.

This Convention shall be open for signature by the States represented at the twelfth session of the Diplomatic Conference on Maritime Law.

This Convention shall be ratified and the instruments of ratification shall be deposited with the Belgian Government.

1. This Convention shall come into force three months after the date of the deposit of the fifth instrument of ratification.

2. This Convention shall come into force in respect of each signatory State which ratifies it after the deposit of the fifth instrument of ratification, three months after the date of the deposit of the instrument of ratification.

1. States, Members of the United Nations or Members of the specialized agencies, not represented at the twelfth session of the Diplomatic Conference on Maritime Law, may accede to this Convention.

2. The instruments of accession shall be deposited with the Belgian Government.

3. The Convention shall come into force in respect of the acceding State three months after the date of deposit of the instrument of accession of that State, but not before the date of entry into force of the Convention as established by Article 15(1).

Each Contracting Party shall have the right to denounce this Convention at any time after the coming into force thereof in respect of such Contracting Party. Nevertheless, this denunciation shall only take effect one year after the date on which notification thereof has been received by the Belgian Government.

1. Any Contracting Party may at the time of signature, ratification or accession to this Convention or at any time thereafter declare by written notification to the Belgian Government which, among the territories under its sovereignty or for whose international relations it is responsible, are those to which the present Convention applies.

The Convention shall three months after the date of the receipt of such notification by the Belgian Government, extend to the territories named therein.

2. Any Contracting Party which has made a declaration under paragraph (1) of this Article may at any time thereafter declare by notification given to the Belgian Government that the Convention shall cease to extend to such territories.

This denunciation shall take effect one year after the date on which notification thereof has been received by the Belgian Government.

The Belgian Government shall notify the States represented at the twelfth session of the Diplomatic Conference on Maritime Law, and the acceding States to this Convention, of the following:

1. The signatures, ratifications and accessions received in accordance with Articles 13, 14 and 16.

2. The date on which the present Convention will come into force in accordance with Article 15.

3. The notifications with regard to Articles 12 and 18.

4. The denunciations received in accordance with Article 17.

Any Contracting Party may three years after the coming into force of this Convention, in respect of such Contracting Party, or any time thereafter request that a Conference be convened in order to consider amendments to this Convention.

Any Contracting Party proposing to avail itself of this right shall notify the Belgian Government which, provided that one-third of the Contracting Parties are in agreement, shall convene the Conference within six months thereafter.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned plenipotentiaries, duly authorized, have signed this Convention.

DONE at Brussels, this 27th day of May 1967, in the French and English languages, both texts being equally authentic, in a single copy, which shall remain deposited in the archives of the Belgian Government, which shall issue certified copies.