By Andrew Bounds

Cunard, the cruise line, is considering moving its ships? registration from the UK for the first time in its 161-year history to allow people to marry on board across the Atlantic.

British law forbids weddings at sea, Cunard said, adding that it was passing up valuable business by keeping its liners, which include the Queen Elizabeth II flagship, in the UK.

While the company said no decision had been taken, it 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 Liverpool in 1860 and its former head office is one of the famous Three Graces buildings on the city?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 Carnival launched its first ship with a chapel.

Peter Shanks, Cunard?s 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. But contrary to commonly held belief, ship?s captains in most countries have never been able to perform official marriage services, said Javed Ali, a maritime lawyer at Hill Dickinson.

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.? But he added that 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 had 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.

The 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.

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

? The Financial Times Limited 2011