ABSTRACT
Amendments to the non-statutory entries could be made on the authority of the Commissioners of Customs & Excise. In Bell v The Bank of London 9 it was decided that the miss-spelt name of the ship in the mortgage (the City of Bruxelles ) did not invalidate the mortgage where it was clear to which ship the mortgage applied (the City of Brussels ). In The Rose 10 a mortgagee under its statutory power of sale sold the ship to a third party purchaser. The mortgagee delivered a bill of sale to the purchaser but also executed the memorandum of discharge on the original mortgage. By mistake the discharged mortgage was presented to the Registrar who recorded the discharge of the mortgage. When the purchaser presented the bill of sale to record the transfer of ownership the Registrar declined to register it on the grounds that the mortgage had been discharged and therefore the mortgagee had no power to transfer legal title to the purchaser. The purchaser successfully applied to the court for a declaration that it was the owner of the ship and that it was entitled to be registered as such.
