Artikel 6

1. For the purpose of this Agreement, a vessel or aircraft has the nationality of the State whose flag it is entitled to fly or in which the vessel or aircraft is registered, in accordance with domestic laws and regulations.
2. Requests for verification of nationality of vessels claiming registration in, or entitlement to fly the flag of one of the Parties, shall be processed through the competent national authority of the flag State Party.
3. Each request should be conveyed orally and later confirmed by written communication, and shall contain, if possible, the name of the vessel, registration number, nationality, homeport, grounds for suspicion, and any other identifying information.
4. Requests for verification of nationality shall be answered expeditiously and all efforts shall be made to provide such answer as soon as possible, but in any event within four (4) hours.
5. If the claimed flag State Party refutes the claim of nationality made by the suspect vessel, then the Party that requested verification may assimilate the suspect vessel to a ship without nationality in accordance with international law.