Foreign-flag vessels in Polish maritime areas – new requirements for ships working on offshore wind projects

The new rules introduce a requirement to obtain an operating permit for certain foreign vessels operating in Polish maritime areas. This is an important change for shipowners, operators and contractors involved in offshore wind projects in the Baltic Sea.

In practice

If a foreign vessel is expected to operate in Polish maritime areas for more than 14 days in a year, the requirement to obtain an operating permit should be factored in already at the contract and charter planning stage.

The October 2025 amendment to the Act on Promoting Electricity Generation from Offshore Wind Farms, commonly referred to as the Offshore Wind Act, attracted a great deal of attention. Much less attention was paid to the amendment to the Maritime Safety Act, even though, from the perspective of the offshore market, it may have significant practical consequences.

The new provision addresses a problem that the offshore sector and shipowners had been facing for several years. It concerns the lack of real requirements and effective supervision over certain foreign non-convention vessels operating in Polish maritime areas.

The new Article 86¹ applies to foreign-flag vessels that are not subject to the SOLAS Convention, that is, the international safety requirements for larger ships. In practice, this mainly concerns smaller working vessels below 500 gross tons, including Crew Transfer Vessels (CTVs), guard vessels, survey vessels, small port tugs and other vessels supporting offshore operations. These are the vessels that carry out many of the day-to-day tasks required for the construction and operation of offshore wind farms.

Why this change was needed

Under the previous rules, the Polish maritime administration did not have effective tools to supervise some of these foreign vessels when they operated in Polish maritime areas. In practice, some of them operated on the basis of national certificates issued by the flag state, for example the MCA Small Commercial Vessel Certificate in the United Kingdom.

Such documents were not always regarded as equivalent to the class assigned by recognised classification societies that are members of IACS, the International Association of Classification Societies. These include, among others, DNV, Lloyd’s Register, Bureau Veritas and the Polish Register of Shipping (PRS).

This mattered not only for safety, but also for market competition. Some foreign shipowners could offer services at a lower price because they did not bear the same costs related to class, technical supervision and compliance that, in practice, were imposed on entities operating under the Polish flag.

The issue became more visible as offshore projects in the Baltic Sea developed and more foreign vessels started to work there on a permanent basis.

What the amendment changes

If a foreign-flag vessel that is not subject to the SOLAS Convention is to operate in Polish maritime areas for more than 14 days in a calendar year, the shipowner must first obtain an operating permit.

The permit is issued by the director of the competent maritime office. An inspection by a recognised classification society is also required.

What documents need to be prepared

In particular, the application should include:

• a description of the planned operation of the vessel, including routes, home port and the planned duration of offshore operations,
• consent from the flag state administration,
• the vessel’s certificates and class documents,
• a document confirming that the vessel meets requirements no less stringent than those applicable to vessels under the Polish flag; this document should be issued by a recognised organisation after a technical inspection of the vessel.

The permit may be issued for a maximum period of five years, but not longer than the validity period of the vessel’s documents.

What this means for the market

From a market perspective, this is an important change.

First, it increases the level of safety because a real technical inspection is carried out before a vessel is allowed to operate.

Second, it reduces competitive differences between vessels under the Polish flag and those under foreign flags.

Third, it affects the planning of contracts and charter arrangements because the permit procedure must now be taken into account at an early stage.

How it works in practice

The Maritime Office in Gdynia has already published a procedure describing how to obtain the permit. It makes clear, among other things, that the authority does not assist in obtaining the document from a recognised organisation, so the shipowner is responsible for preparing the complete set of documents.

The procedure also indicates the applicable inspection fee and assumes that the proceedings should be completed within one month from the submission of a complete application.

Summary

The new rules close an important gap in the system and introduce more uniform requirements for vessels working on offshore wind projects in Polish maritime areas.

For shipowners, operators and contractors, the message is clear: when planning the operation of foreign vessels in the Polish part of the Baltic Sea, it is now necessary to consider not only operational and contractual matters, but also the obligation to obtain the relevant permit.

Contact

Do you have questions about vessel operations in offshore wind projects, maritime administration requirements or planning vessel operations in Polish maritime areas?

Contact the lawyers at Wind & Water Legal Zbroja Adwokaci i Radcowie Prawni sp. k. We advise on vessel operation planning, administrative obligations and mitigating regulatory risks related to offshore wind projects in the Baltic Sea.