In a recently published official Report from the Swedish Government (SOU 2010:73) a leg- islative proposal has been introduced. Its main purpose is to prevent parallel registrations of ships that are bareboat chartered to other countries. The legislative proposal claims that by preventing parallel registration of ships the Swedish Maritime Code will better corre- spond with the UN convention on the law of the sea.

The UN convention on the law of the sea clearly states that ships are forbidden to fly two flags. There is however no restriction concerning parallel registration, simultaneously, in two registers. A ship that is bareboat chartered out from Sweden does not fulfil criteria re- quired in order to be deregistered, according to the Swedish maritime code. In matter of fact ownership remains unchanged in a bareboat procedure. The situation leads to parallel registration, and uncertainty can arise regarding which country has full state control over the ship. This may cause problems, and should be dealt with. There are however more ap- propriate ways of dealing with the issue rather than prohibiting parallel registration, and that are compatible with the UN convention on the law of the sea.

By allowing bareboat registration according to the UN convention on conditions for regis- tration of ships, the issue of which country has full state control over the ship is resolved, and assures that the ship sails under only on states flag.

Sweden has held a passive position regarding the issue of parallel registration of ships and a legislative change is necessary, mainly because parallel registration, as it is currently con- ducted in Sweden today, is in conflict with the UN convention on the law of the sea, but also because it leads to uncertainty concerning which country has full state control over the ship. However, a prohibition against parallel registration is not compatible with the rest of EU, where the majority has chosen to permit parallel registration. Bareboat registration ac- cording to the UN convention on conditions for registration of ships is not in conflict with the UN convention on the law of the sea and should therefore be permitted in Sweden.