SHIPPING: REGISTRATION, CLASSIFICATION AND STATE REGULATION. Registration.—It is essen tial that every ship should have a certificate of identity, or of registry, for facility in maritime trading. The Navigation Acts of Great Britain from 166o onwards made the registration of vessels compulsory, and this requirement is still contained in the Merchant Shipping Acts.
To obtain a certificate, an application must be made by the owners, stating their qualifications for ownership and their financial interests. A certificate from the builders must be produced giving a description of the ship, the estimated tonnage, and the time and place of build. A surveyor of the Board of Trade measures the vessel for tonnage and for registration, and prepares a certifi cate of particulars which include the draught marks at the bow and stern. The registrar then issues a certificate ("carving note") which gives the vessel an official number and which states the registered or net tonnage and the port of registry. The builder thus authorized cuts the official number and the registered or net tonnage in the steel structure of the ship (usually on the beam at the after end of the main hatchway, immediately before the bridge), marks the port of registry and the name of the ship on the stern, and the name only on each side of the bow, the draught marks having already been marked and checked by the surveyor. The necessary particulars are then entered in the official register, and a certificate of registry in conformity with these particulars, but to which is added the name of the master, is given to the owners. As there is often some confusion as to what is meant by "registered tonnage," it should always be remembered that this term is usually applied to the net tonnage, that is, the tonnage on which dues are assessed, and is the tonnage which is marked on the ship for purposes of identification. (For particulars of meas urement see &YIPPING: Tonnage Terms.) Lloyd's Register.—There are certain societies formed by the sea interests which have for their purpose what is termed the classification of ships. The most famous and influential as well as the oldest of these bodies is Lloyd's Register of Shipping, which was founded in 1760 and reconstituted in 1834 "for the purpose of obtaining for the use of Merchants, Shipowners and Underwriters a faithful and accurate classification of mercantile shipping, and for their government adopt from time to time a code of rules and regulations," and which may be taken as a standard to illus trate the important part played by classification societies in the working of the mercantile marine. The society prints annually a
Register Book containing the names and particulars of all the ships in the world over 1 oo tons gross, and where the vessels are classed with the society the characters assigned with full particu lars are given. It publishes, at regular intervals, certain valuable statistical summaries of the position of shipping with reference to its growth, change, and so forth, which are regarded by the ship ping world as its "barometer," and which form a sensitive index of the position of the world's trade generally.
The rules fix the quality and strength of the material to be used in the construction, the thicknesses of the parts of the hull, the equipment of anchors and cables as well as the requirements for machinery. The use of the expression "Ai at Lloyd's" as a hall-mark of excellence indicates that from the design stage to the end of its existence the fitness of the ship is under control. When a new ship is contracted for, plans of the design showing details of the various parts of the structure are submitted and amended where necessary. The materials to be used in the con struction are tested by the society's surveyors, and its officers supervise the actual building of the ship and its machinery. When it is completed a certificate is issued to the effect that the general regulations and practice of the society have been complied with, and the character or symbol of classification is attached to the vessel's name in the register of the society. The ship enters into service, and at regular intervals—generally every four years—is required to undergo a special survey and overhauling at the hands of the surveyors, under specific regulations.