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1. A Member State shall not withhold from registration, for technical reasons arising from the Conventions, a ship registered in another Member State which complies with the requirements and carries valid certificates and equipment approved or type-approved in accordance with Council Directive 96/98/EC of 20 December 1996 on marine equipment (). In order to fulfil their obligations under regional environmental instruments ratified before 1 January 1992, Member States may impose additional rules in accordance with the optional Annexes to the Conventions.

2. This Article shall apply without prejudice, where applicable, to any specific requirements laid down for the operation of a ship under Article 7 of Directive 98/18/EC and Article 6 of Directive 2003/25/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 April 2003 on specific stability requirements for ro-ro passenger ships ().

3. Upon receiving the request for transfer, the Member State of the losing register shall provide the Member State of the receiving register, or make available to the recognised organisation acting on its behalf, all relevant information on the ship, in particular, on her condition and equipment. This information shall contain the history file of the vessel and, if applicable, a list of the improvements required by the losing register for registering the ship or renewing her certificates and of overdue surveys. The information shall include all the certificates and particulars of the ship as required by the Conventions and relevant Community instruments as well as Flag State inspection and Port State control records. The Member States shall cooperate to ensure proper implementation of this paragraph.

4. Before registering a ship, the Member State of the receiving register, or the recognised organisation acting on its behalf, may subject the ship to an inspection to confirm that the actual condition of the ship and her equipment correspond to the certificates referred to in Article 3. The inspection shall be performed within a reasonable time frame.

5. If, following the inspection and having given the ship owner a reasonable opportunity to rectify any deficiencies, the Member State of the receiving register, or the recognised organisation acting on its behalf, is unable to confirm correspondence with the certificates, it shall notify the Commission in accordance with Article 6(1).