Section 52, The Merchant Shipping Act, 2003

Where a ship has ceased to be registered as a ship by reason of having been wrecked or abandoned or for anyreason other than capture by the enemy, the ship shall not be re-registered until such ship has, at the expense of the applicant for registration been surveyed by a surveyor and certified by him to be seaworthy. P ART IV – TRANSFER AND TRANSMISSION Transfer of ship or shares 53. (1) A transfer of ownership of a registered ship or a share therein when disposed of to a person qualified to own a Sierra Leonean ship, shall be made by a bill of sale. (2) The bill of sale referred to in subsection (1) shall contain such description of the ship as is contained in the tonnage certificate or some other description sufficient to identify the ship to the satisfaction of the Registrar. (3) The bill of sale shall be in the prescribed form and shall be executed by the transferor in the presence of a witness. Declaration of transfer 54. When a registered ship or a share therein is transferred, the transferee shall not be entitled to be registered as owner thereof until, or in the case of a body corporate, the person authorized by this Act to make declarations on behalf of the body corporate, has made and signed a declaration referring to the ship and containing a statement of the qualifications of the transferee to own a Sierra Leonean ship, or where the transferee is a body corporate, of such circumstances of the constitution and business thereof as prove it to be qualified to own a Sierra Leonean ship. Registration of transfer 55. (1) A bill of sale for the transfer of ownership of a registered ship or a share therein, when duly executed, shall be produced to the Registrar at the port of registry of the ship with the declaration of transfer, and the Registrar shall thereupon enter in the register the name of the transferee as owner of the ship or share, and shall endorse on the bill of sale the fact that entry has been made, with the day and hour of entry. (2) Bills of sale of a ship or share therein shall be entered in the register in order of their production to the Registrar. Transmission of property in a ship on death, insolvency, etc.