Kiri

Dear Gunnar Gran,

We hope this email finds you well.

The EST Flag team from the Estonian Transport Administration is reaching out to introduce “bringing ships under Estonian flag” initiative and invite you to explore potential collaboration with us. We would be delighted to meet you during the upcoming Nor-Shipping 2025 exhibition at NOVA Spektrum, taking place from 2 to 6 June 2025.

The EST Flag initiative aims to promote Estonian ship registers offering competitive and high-quality flag services, including:

• * Supportive business environment. Estonia ranks first in the OECD Tax Competitiveness Index and offers state aid measures, including tonnage tax and the seafarer scheme that enhance the profitability of maritime operations.

• * Favorable tax schemes. Together with 0% of income tax on retained or reinvested revenue, Estonia offers seafarer tax scheme and tonnage tax scheme significantly reduсing tax obligations for shipowners and crew members.

• * Digital solutions. Estonia’s e-governance solutions provide unparalleled ease in managing maritime operations, including online ship registration and digital documentation services. Thanks to e-residency, it is possible to establish a company in Estonia remotely and run the business from any part of the world. With the e-residency card an access is granted to many Estonian state services like e-business register, e-notary, e-taxation, digital signature etc.

• * Factors for growth. Estonia is on the Paris MoU white-list and offers a variety of ship registers with competitive fees, missing restrictions on crew nationality or ship age and an environment that fosters innovation and collaboration. Long-lasting maritime education traditions in Estonia will help in getting new crew members to your ship. The distance between state bodies and business is small; beneficial business environment facilitates starting new businesses and welcomes start-ups.

As a member of the EU, NATO and the UN, Estonia complies with international maritime standards, including IMO and ILO conventions. This provides shipowners the assurance of a globally respected flag.

We would be honored to welcome you at our stand T01-14, where, in addition to EST Flag, other representatives of Estonia's maritime sector will be present. These include companies offering top-tier services in ship repair, green and digital technologies, tailored shore power solutions, interior design and automation solutions, as well as training platforms.

Your notice of interest in having a meeting and more detailed presentation is appreciated to be sent in advance in order to reserve some time personally for you. Please send your e-mail in reply to this letter in order to coordinate suitable time for our meeting.

We look forward to the possibility of collaborating and hope to meet you at Nor-Shipping 2025.

Find us at LinkedIn.

Best regards,

Andrei Barotov
Chief Specialist of Maritime Competitiveness

Maritime Development and Competitiveness Department
Estonian Transport Administration
(+372) 586 149 52
www.transpordiamet.ee/en

Dear Gunnar Gran,

We are writing to you from Estonian Transport Administration to introduce Estonia as a maritime country and invite for mutually profitable cooperation.

The Republic of Estonia is a member of the EU, NATO, and the UN and has ratified various UN, IMO, and ILO conventions. Here are four key reasons why you should consider Estonia a great place to do business:

Simple and transparent tax system and state aid benefits:

• * Estonia’s tax code holds the 1st place in the OECD Tax Competitiveness Index. Tax exemptions: 0% of income tax on retained and reinvested revenue.

• * There are various state aid possibilities, among them are tonnage regime (where the company's tax liability is calculated based on the net tonnage of the vessel and the actual earnings of the company are not taken into account) and the seafarer scheme (with 0% salary income tax and reduced other taxes). Those state aid measures reduce tax load of both the company and crew members and raise the competitiveness of your business.

Digital solutions:

• * 99% government services are available in 24/7: e-tax, e-notary, ship information system (online registration and management of ships seafarers' information system (applying for docs and storage).

• * Thanks to e-residency, it is possible to establish a company in Estonia remotely and run the business from any part of the world. With the e-residency card an access is to granted to the majority of Estonian state services like E-Business Register, e-notary, e-taxation, digital signature (the e-signature officially equals to physical) and many others.

Competitive and developing business environment:

• * Estonia is on the Paris MoU white-list and offers the possibility to choose between different ship registers (main ship register, I and II BB ship register), and imposes neither crew members nationality nor ship age restrictions.

• * Long-lasting maritime education traditions in Estonia will help in getting new crew members to your ship.

• * The distance between state bodies and business is small; beneficial business environment facilitates starting new businesses and welcomes start-ups.

• * Means of financial support via Estonian Business and Innovation Agency can be discussed.

Variety of high-quality shore services:

• * Estonia offers extensive ship repair and shipbuilding facilities, supported by strong coastal service providers. Notable companies include the BLRT Group, a leading industrial holding in the Baltics; SRC, which provides solutions for green shipping (retrofits); Shore Link, which offers tailored shore power solutions between vessels and ports; and Baltic Workboats, which specializes in the design, construction and delivery of steel and aluminum workboats. Also, we have a strong cluster of other maritime activities - take a contact with us and we can share more info.

The focus of Estonian Government is on development of the shipping sector of Estonia and we as an Estonian Transport Administration will be glad to share more about benefits of sailing under Estonian flag.

Should you have any questions or need more information, please do not hesitate to contact. Please let us know if you would like to set up an online meeting with us. If our cooperation request sparks interest, EST Flag initiative team will also be present in the coming SMM 2024 exhibition in Hamburg, Europort 2024 exhibition in Istanbul & and next year - Nor-Shipping 2025  and will be ready for the meeting and further discussions.

Find us at LinkedIn

Kind Regards,

Andrei Barotov
Chief Specialist of Maritime Competitiveness

Maritime Development and Competitiveness Department
Estonian Transport Administration
(+372) 586 149 52
www.transpordiamet.ee

Dear Sir or Madam,

We hope this email finds you well.

The EST Flag team from Estonian Transport Administration is reaching out to introduce Estonia’s ship registry and invites you to explore the option of registering your commercial vessels under the Estonian flag. We would be delighted to meet you during the upcoming Maritime Day Åland 2025 that will take place on Thursday 22 May in Congresscenter Alandica, Strandgatan 33, Mariehamn.

EST Flag introduces Estonian ship registers offering competitive and high-quality flag services, including:

• * Supportive business environment. Estonia ranks first in the OECD Tax Competitiveness Index and offers state aid measures, including tonnage tax and the seafarer scheme that enhance the profitability of maritime operations.

• * Favorable tax schemes. Together with 0% of income tax on retained or reinvested revenue, Estonia offers Seafarer Tax Scheme and Tonnage Tax Scheme significantly reduсing tax obligations for shipowners and crew members.

• * Digital solutions. Estonia’s e-governance solutions provide unparalleled ease in managing maritime operations, including online ship registration and digital documentation services. Thanks to e-residency, it is possible to establish a company in Estonia remotely and run the business from any part of the world. With the e-residency card an access is granted to many Estonian state services like E-Business Register, e-notary, e-taxation, digital signature etc.

• * Business-friendly flag state. Estonia is on the Paris MoU white-list and offers a variety of ship registers with competitive fees, missing restrictions on crew nationality or ship age and an environment that fosters innovation and collaboration. Long-lasting maritime education traditions in Estonia will help in getting new crew members to your ship. The distance between state bodies and business is small; beneficial business environment facilitates starting new businesses and welcomes start-ups.

As a member of the EU, NATO and the UN, Estonia complies with international maritime standards, including IMO and ILO conventions. This provides shipowners the assurance of a globally respected flag.

We would be honored to welcome you at our stand at floor 0, section S, you can find us by EST Flag logo (below). Your notice of interest in having a meeting and more detailed presentation is appreciated to be sent in advance in order to reserve some time personally for you. Please send your e-mail in reply to this letter in order to coordinate suitable time for our meeting.

We look forward to the possibility of collaborating and hope to meet you at Maritime Day Åland 2025.

Find us at LinkedIn.

Best regards,

Andrei Barotov
Chief Specialist of Maritime Competitiveness

Maritime Development and Competitiveness Department
Estonian Transport Administration
(+372) 586 149 52
www.transpordiamet.ee/en