Langkawi Boat Registration

Langkawi, Malaysia, Yacht Registration

The Langkawi Registry offers one of the easiest and most convenient boat registrations in the world. It was setup in 2003 and is based in Telaga Harbour Park, Langkawi and is operated by the Director General of the Marine Department of Malaysia.

The major advantage of Langkawi is, that it is the only registry in South East Asia to have adopted a real commercial yacht registry. As an open registry there are no nationality restrictions or limits affecting the ownership of a yacht and it is open to individuals, joint owners, corporations, and yachting entities.

You can therefor register your boat in Langkawi as a private owner or an entity (company) and use it for private, commercial or bareboat activities. The setup process is fast and the paperwork needed from you is very straight forward and most important; in most cases, we do not need a survey report from you which will save you a lot of time and expenses.

Registration of a vessel in Langkawi, Malaysia is almost identical to registering in the United Kingdom from which most of the existing Malaysian maritime laws and administrative practices are derived except you will usually not need the survey. The Directorate General of the Marine Department oversees the Langkawi International Yacht Registry.

Who can register a vessel in Langkawi?

The Langkawi registry is an open registry. This means that private owners from any nationality can register their vessel as well as companies from around the world. So, if your vessel is currently owned by a UK LTD or Delaware LLC for example, you can continue to use these ownership companies and register in Langkawi, Malaysia. The registration is thus possible for private and company owned vessels and for all nationalities!

Can I register as Commercial or Bareboat charter in Langkawi?

Yes, you can register for private, commercial or bareboat vessel use. The cost to register your boat are the same for all three uses.

How long does it take to register?

The Langkawi registration will take about one week from the time we receive all documents from you.

How long is the Langkawi registration valid for?

The registration is valid for life! We take care of all paperwork for you and then you are done for the life of the boat. There will only be the annual tonnage fees to pay. We will take care of this for you annually and the total cost of tonnage fees and our representee fees are $195,- for boats up to 150 ton.

I want to register my boat as company owned but don’t have a company yet?

We can setup a United Kingdom LTD. or Delaware LLC for you and you will transfer the ownership of your vessel into this dormant new company that is owned by you.
We recommend the UK LTD as it has low annual fees but we can setup a UK LTD or Delaware LLC for you in 2 days at a total cost of $300,-
As the company is only used for owning a boat you will not need to pay any taxes or do any government filings. A bill of sale will have to be signed to transfer ownership of your yacht to your new UK LTD. or Delaware LLC. We will make this bill of sale for you or you can make your own. This whole process will be done within 48 hours!

Why is the company owned registration more expensive then the private owned registration?

In order to comply with the MOU while list any company owned boat must have a due diligence performed. This means our local agent must take care of a lot of extra paperwork and do company searches.

Main advantages of Langkawi Yacht Registration:

• Valid around the world
• In most cases no yacht survey is needed
• Your vessel never has to visit Langkawi or even Malaysia
• Low setup cost from $750,- (for boats up to 150 ton)
• Fast setup time frame
• This is an international yacht flag registration valid around the world
• Your yacht can be registered as privately owned by a foreigner with any nationality
• Your yacht can be owned by an entity in another country like a UK LTD. or a Delaware LLC. This is great for boat owners who want to avoid liability or want privacy
• Langkawi has a good reputation and is white listed in IMO.

What Paperwork do we need?

• Agent appointment letter (to authorize/appoint us as your agent – we supply this)
• Provide us with 3 name options for the boat, with most preferred name as your first option
• Clear colour scanned copy of owner's passport
• Pictures of yacht (bow, stern and port or starboard side)
• Bill of sale OR copy of Sales & Purchase agreement (with notary stamping)
• Existing or previous Registration Certificate
• Deletion Certificate (if applicable)
• Builder's certificate (only for new built yacht)

When you provide us with the above paperwork we will prepare all paperwork to file with the maritime authorities in Langkawi. You will just need to sign the documents we prepare and we will submit, follow-up and courier the registration documents to you. This whole process takes about 1 week.