Swiss deep-sea ships get public guarantee
On 11 September 2020, the Swiss federal council approved an amendment to the regulation on guarantees for loans to finance Swiss deep-sea vessels. The revised regulation will enter into effect on 1 November 2020.
In 2019, a Swiss shipping company’s economic difficulties caused an over-average number of Swiss deep-sea vessels to be temporarily detained in European ports. Hence, it is to be expected that for at least the coming two years, the Swiss flag in European territory (incl. Russia and Canada) will be relegated to a list containing the flags of medium or high risk ships.
This assessment would apply to all vessels sailing under the Swiss flag. Ships without a guarantee from the Swiss federation may even now evade the effects of a black rating by changing their flag. Thanks to the revised regulation, deep-sea vessels possessing a federal guarantee can now also avoid being put on the black list.
Even for ships under a foreign flag the Swiss federation retains a first-ranking right of pledge to safeguard its guarantees and is entitled to all claims from customary ship assurance policies. The deployment of the vessels to secure national supplies if necessary is also guaranteed by contract. (mw)
www.admin.ch/gov/de/start/dokumentation/medienmitteilungen.msg-id-80371.html