Cunard poised to set sail over wedding law

Cunard, the cruise line, is considering moving its ships’ registration from the UK for the first time in its 171-year history to allow people to marry on board across the Atlantic.

British law forbids weddings at sea except by a notary or religious minister and Cunard said it was passing up valuable business by keeping its liners, which include the Queen Elizabeth II flagship, in the UK.

While it said no decision had been taken, the company said it was exploring options including moving its three vessels offshore. Bermuda and Malta are among flag states permitting captains to perform weddings.

The move would come a decade after tax changes reversed a decline in the UK shipping industry and represents a symbolic blow. Cunard was founded in 1840 and its former head office is one of the famous Three Graces buildings on Liverpool’s waterfront.

Bermuda, a British overseas territory, would allow the fleet to continue to fly the British red ensign. Carnival Cruises, Cunard’s US owner, has already moved its 16 Princess Cruises ships to the island.

They have performed weddings since 1998, when it launched its first ship with a chapel.

Peter Shanks, Cunard president, said: “It’s no secret that weddings at sea are now very big business ... However this business is currently denied to us, as our fleet is registered in the UK, and we have for some time been examining our options.

“One is to stay as we are and forgo our share of this lucrative business; a second is to designate a ‘wedding ship’ and change that ship’s registry alone; and the third is to maximise the opportunity and re-register all our ships. I must stress that at present no decision has been made.”

While the ship could hire a minister to do the job most couples want the captain as a rare twist to their big day.

Cunard’s fleet could remain based in Southampton, though the UK would lose some revenue from registration and associated service business.

Princess Cruises says it marries hundreds of people a year around the Caribbean, South American and US coasts. Costs start at $2,250 and can be far higher for big wedding parties.

Some believe new legislation that requires European Union nationals such as Poles and Romanians to be paid in line with British staff may play a role.

The UK Chamber of Shipping has warned of the impact of the Equality Act, which came into effect in the industry over the summer. Companies could move registration to avoid big pay rises.

Mark Brownrigg, director-general of the chamber, said: “We had been seriously concerned about the likely scale of the flagging out [leaving the UK register] but when the government took out non-Europeans it eased our concerns.”

However, he said cruise lines, with large numbers of lower-skilled workers, would have most to lose from the new legislation, though it was too early to know what its full impact would be.

Carnival announced a 2.2 per cent rise in pre-tax profits for the third quarter this week but said fuel costs were rising and advanced bookings suggested that occupancy would be lower for the rest of 2011 and the first half of 2012 compared with a year ago.

Meanwhile, Britain’s UK-owned and UK flagged fleet has grown since 2000 when the government replaced corporation tax with a tonnage tax unrelated to profits to reverse an exodus of ships.

The total registered rose from 11m gigatonnes in 2001 to more than 17m gigatonnes in 2011.

According to Oxford Economics, the consultancy, the UK shipping industry is twice the size it would have been had the tax not been changed.

The shipping industry contributes directly and indirectly almost £12.9bn to UK gross domestic product and supports 268,000 jobs.