Annexes to COM(2024)76 - Implementation of Directive 98/41 on the registration of persons sailing on board passenger ships operating to or from ports of the Member States of the EC

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dossier COM(2024)76 - Implementation of Directive 98/41 on the registration of persons sailing on board passenger ships operating to or from ports ...
document COM(2024)76
date February 20, 2024
Agreement. The incorporation of Directive 2017/2109 into the EEA Agreement is not completed yet.


Table 1: Date of completion to transpose the Directive

Member StateComplete transposition notification date
Belgium08/06/2020
Bulgaria06/08/2020
Czechia-
Denmark01/04/2020
Germany09/03/2020
Estonia23/12/2019
Ireland09/01/2020
Greece17/03/2020
Spain03/06/2020
France23/06/2020
Croatia22/05/2020
Italy12/06/2020
Cyprus22/12/2020
Latvia21/02/2020
Lithuania09/03/2022
Luxembourg21/08/2018
Hungary-
Malta15/06/2020
Netherlands19/12/2019
Austria-
Poland17/03/2020
Portugal03/11/2020
Romania04/06/2020
Slovenia12/02/2021
Slovakia-
Finland26/03/2019
Sweden11/12/2019


4. Implementation of the Directive

1. Passenger ships falling under the reporting obligation

Table 2 shows an overview of the number of passenger ships falling under the reporting obligation. This has been completed based on the information provided by Member States to the Commission upon a specific request to prepare this report. It is worth noting that the scope of the Directive is wider than that of Directive 2009/45/EC5 on the safety of passenger ships. Directive 2009/45/EC covers passenger ships of more than 24 m in length built in steel or equivalent material and high-speed passenger crafts, in domestic service while the Directive applies to all passenger ships (regardless of their length and construction material) and to all high-speed passenger craft, both in domestic and international service.

For this reason, some Member States have encountered difficulties in reporting the exact number of ships that are covered by the Directive. A precise picture of the fleet covered by the Directive will be available once the reporting through the EMSW is fully implemented.


Table 2: Number of ships falling under the reporting obligation

Member StateFlagged in the reporting Member StateFlagged in another Member StateFlagged in a non-EU countryTotal
Belgium69577178
Bulgaria3003
Czechian/an/an/a
Denmark791451144
Germany931818129
Estonia12223367
Ireland435228123
Greece98119341034
Spain1145376391290
France47141125313
Croatia5554481680
ItalyNo informationNo informationNo information
Cyprus1133246
Latvia0182139
Lithuania6006
Luxembourgn/an/an/a
Hungaryn/an/an/a
Malta2341855307
Netherlands34No informationNo information
Austrian/an/an/a
Poland0215576
PortugalNo informationNo informationNo information
Romania000
Slovenia2420836268
Slovakian/an/an/a
Finland145019
Sweden150455200



2. Exemptions and derogations

The Directive provides exemptions to the registration requirements if certain conditions are met.

- Article 9(2) allows Member States to exempt some ships from reporting the number of persons on board to the single window and/or from registering the identity of the persons on board, for voyages in area D, where nearby rescue facilities are available.


- Article 9(4) allows Member States to exempt some ships from the requirement to register the identity of persons on certain routes which comply with specific conditions, when registration is shown to be impractical.

Article 9(1) of the Directive also allows Member States to require registration of the identity of persons on board for trips shorter than 20 nautical miles.

Table 3 gives an overview of the number of ships affected by these measures.


Table 3: Number of ships concerned by exemptions or by reporting distance lower than 20 miles under the Directive

Member StateArticle 9.1Article 9.2Article 9.4Comments
BelgiumNo informationNo informationNo information
BulgariaNoneNoneNone
Czechian/an/an/a
DenmarkNoneNone7** Maximum number of ships
GermanyNone72
EstoniaNo informationNo informationNo information
IrelandNoneNoneNone
GreeceNo informationNo informationNo information
SpainNo informationNo informationNo information
FranceNoneNo informationNo information
CroatiaNone4340** This figure is approximate since it concerns all ships in certain routes
ItalyNoneNoneNot defined** The exemptions applied are for all ships serving certain routes
CyprusNoneNoneNone
LatviaNo informationNo informationNo information
LithuaniaNoneNoneNone
Luxembourgn/an/an/a
Hungaryn/an/an/a
MaltaNoneNoneNone
NetherlandsNoneNoneNone
Austrian/an/an/a
PolandNoneNoneNone
PortugalNo informationNo informationNo information
RomaniaNoneNoneNone
SloveniaNoneNoneNone
Slovakian/an/an/a
FinlandNo informationNo informationNo information
SwedenNone311* + 11None* This figure is for area E defined in national law



3. Reporting through the European Maritime Single Window

To make the sharing of information easier, the Directive requires that Member States use the harmonised reporting formalities established by Directive 2010/65/EU6. If there is an accident affecting more than one Member State, the Member States must share the information available with other Member States through the SafeSeaNet system.

To allow Member States sufficient time to add new functions to the national single windows, the Directive provides for a transitional period of 6 years after entry into force (until December 2023), during which Member States could continue to keep data concerning persons on board in the company’s registrar. Table 4 shows the implementation status of the reporting through the EMSW.


Table 4: Member States reporting through the EMSW and connection date

Member StateSSN v57 implementation status

of the Directive at the end of 2023
Operation date
BelgiumImplemented05/12/2023
BulgariaNot implemented--
Czechian/a
DenmarkNot implemented--
GermanyImplemented4/12/2023
EstoniaImplemented26/10/2022
IrelandImplemented09/08/2022
GreeceImplemented18/12/2023
SpainImplemented24/05/2022
FranceImplemented (some ports not yet connected)13/11/2023
CroatiaImplemented27/01/2022
ItalyImplemented26/05/2022
CyprusImplemented12/12/2022
LatviaImplemented07/11/2023
LithuaniaImplemented18/05/2022
Luxembourgn/a--
Hungaryn/a--
MaltaImplemented01/02/2022
NetherlandsImplemented13/11/2023
Austrian/a--
PolandImplemented23/05/2023
PortugalImplemented (one port not yet connected)10/05/2023
RomaniaImplemented13/03/2022
SloveniaImplemented21/08/2023
Slovakian/a--
FinlandImplemented10/01/2023
SwedenImplemented18/12/2023


5. Conclusion

Despite some delays Directive 2017/2109 is now fully transposed by all Member States.

All Member States chose to postpone the reporting of identity data through the EMSW as permitted by the Directive. As shown in Table 4, most Member States have updated their National Single Window’s to SafeSeaNet v5.0. This will allow passenger information to be sent to SafeSeaNet in line with the requirements of Directive 2017/2109.

The implementation is however incomplete in a few cases, the Commission is in contact with the Member States concerned in order to address the technical difficulties related to the reporting via the EMSW.

The Commission is monitoring the implementation of EU passenger ship safety legislation with the assistance of European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA), which is carrying out a cycle of visits to Member States on this topic. The aim of the visits is to assess if the systems in place meet the requirements of the directives on passenger ship safety8. Therefore, the visits cover the Directive which is the object of this report and provide an overall view of the quality and effectiveness of those systems. When the cycle of visits is completed, the Commission will have an overall view of the practical implementation of the Directive.

Moreover, once all Member States fulfil their obligation to report on the persons on board through the EMSW, the Commission will be able to draw a detailed quantitative overview of maritime passenger transport in the EU.

The Commission is required to evaluate the Directive and report to the European Parliament and the Council before 22 December 2026. The statistical data produced based on the reporting through the EMSW and the results of the EMSA cycle of visits will inform the evaluation report.


1 Council Directive 98/41/EC of 18 June 1998 on the registration of persons sailing on board passenger ships operating to or from ports of the Member States of the Community.

2 Directive (EU) 2017/2109 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 November 2017 amending Council Directive 98/41/EC on the registration of persons sailing on board passenger ships operating to or from ports of the Member States of the Community and Directive 2010/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on reporting formalities for ships arriving in and/or departing from ports of the Member States, OJ L 315, 30.11.2017, p. 52-60, ELI:

http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2017/2109/oj.

3 REFIT Adjusting Course: EU Passenger Ship Safety Legislation Fitness Check COM(2015) 508 final.

4 https://www.emsa.europa.eu/ssn-main.html.

5 Directive 2009/45/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 May 2009 on safety rules and standards for passenger ships (Recast): http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2009/45/oj.

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6 Directive 2010/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 October 2010 on reporting formalities for ships arriving in and/or departing from ports of the Member States and repealing Directive 2002/6/EC: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2010/65/2019-12-21.

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7 SSN v5: SafeSeaNet version 5.

8 Directive 2009/45 on passenger ship safety, Directive 2003/25 on specific stability requirements for ro-ro passenger ships, Directive 2017/2110 on a system of inspections of ro-ro passenger ships and high-speed passenger craft in regular services and Directive 98/41 on the registration of persons sailing on board passenger ships.

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