Located in Northern Europe bordering the Baltic Sea, Gulf of Bothnia, and Gulf of Finland between Sweden and Russia, the Republic of Finland is a member of the UN, IMO, OECD, and EU. It is headed by the President, Prime Minister, and unicameral Parliament. Helsinki is the capital, and Finnish is the most widely spoken language. The legal system is a civil law system with Swedish influences. Finland has a highly industrialized, largely free market economy. Its key economic sector is manufacturing, principally the wood, metals, and engineering industries. Chief exports include paper and pulp, machinery, chemicals, metals, and timber. The EC countries are its leading trade partners. The unit of currency is the Euro.
The registration of ships in Finland is governed by Finnish Maritime Code (674/l994) (“the Code”); the Ship Register Act and Statute (512/l993) (“the Act”); and the Ship Register Decree (874/1993) (the “Statute”). The Finnish ship register is maintained by the Finnish Maritime Administration (“FMA”). However, the local Municipal Government for the Åland Islands maintains a register for ships which have the province of Åland as their port of registry. Currently, some 100 vessels are entered in the Åland Ship Register. The port of registry for ships registered in Finland can be named by the owner. In other cases, the port of registry is the residence of the owner or, if the owner is not domiciled in Finland, the city of Helsinki.