As shown in countless movies and TV shows, sea captains wearing dapper uniforms and snazzy hats having the ability to marry couples abroad their ship – can ship captains officiate weddings for real? In life, most things like this become complicated when the law is involved. Except for countries like Bermuda, Japan, and Romania, ship captains do not have the authority to officiate weddings where the couple can be considered legally married.
Sea captains in Japan, Bermuda, and Romania are given this authority. Sea captains in Japan are authorized to marry two people who are Japenese. A similar thing is true in Romania where ship captains are given the same power to officiate weddings. Bermuda also authorizes ship captains the same way. Despite this sort of privilege not being a thing in many parts of the world, it is entirely possible, and not uncommon at all. Let us take an example where one Captain, named Arnold Wonsever, working for Skyline Cruises in New York, officiated, on average, 200 weddings per year.
So, how do these captains get around the legal problems, and where did this unique idea come from in the first place? To get started with, because there is such a common notion worldwide that ship captains can marry a couple legally, some ship captains choose to get the special certificate to do so. Officiating a wedding is just a great way to earn side money while performing their day job as a ship captain. Getting such a certificate is not at all a challenging job in many parts of the world, such as the US, where becoming a priest is very easy with some organizations offering this service online.
Can ship captains officiate weddings?
Some ship captains will simply officiate a wedding ceremony without having any such authority. Said person is not authorized by law to sign things that make the marriage a legal binding. However, depending on where you are from, it may be the case that declaring in front of witnesses that you are marrying your partner in-front can qualify you for a common, lawful marriage.
In some cases where the ship captain has no legal authority, individuals getting married will get officially married in front of a judge before or after their wedding at sea. There are some cruise ships where the ship captain is not authorized to marry a couple, but the company offers some sort of wedding packages; hence, captains perform these weddings in addition to their lawful weddings.
To wrap up, some sea captains don’t have the authority to officiate a wedding legally. However, this has not stopped them from performing such ceremonies. It has resulted in a common notion that sea captains can do this legally, which is not entirely true.
