SOUTHAMPTON'S luxury cruise ship Oriana is to ditch its British registry and be re-registered in Bermuda - so it can carry out weddings.

The ship's owner, P&O Cruises, has confirmed that the vessel will still fly the famous Red Ensign flag but it has further revealed that its new cruise ship Ventura, which enters service in Southampton in spring 2008, will also be registered in Bermuda.

P&O Cruises denied the move was to cut operating costs and insisted Bermuda had been chosen so it would be legal for passengers to be married by the ship's captain, which is not possible on vessels registered in the UK.

Under British law a ship could be licensed for marriages if it was permanently moored and did not move but as vessels such as cruise ships constantly travel the world they cannot be used for marriages.

Regret When Oriana comes back into service on Monday, December 18 following a refit she will join P&O's other Southampton based ships, Arcadia, Oceana and Artemis which are also registered in Bermuda.

News of P&O's decision was greeted with "regret'' at the nation's seafaring watchdog, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, at its Southampton headquarters in Commercial Road.

David Wright, the MCA's registrar general for shipping and seamen, said: "The UK Ship Register greatly regrets the decision of P&O to change Oriana to the Bermuda Register.

"We understand that P&O want to have the flexibility to marry passengers on the ship, which is currently not possible on UK ships.

"The Bermuda Register operates to the same safety standards as the UK Ship Register and the Maritime and Coast-guard Agency regularly audits their operations.

"We are not sure if there are any other advantages which may have persuaded P&O to move to a non-EU flag."

P&O is now part of the huge Miami based shipping empire, Carnival Corpor-ation, which owns Princess Cruises, which also registers its ships in Bermuda, and Cunard, which has no plans to switch registry from Britain, with its new liner, Queen Victoria entering service next year flying the Red Ensign.

David Dingle, the managing director of Carnival UK, the parent company of P&O Cruises, said: "This move is unconnected with our corporate parentage and similar decisions would have been made even if we had not merged with Carnival. Our ships are very British, with no American influence.

"Bermuda, along with the UK, has the highest level of flag state performance. Because Bermuda is a UK Overseas Territory, her shipping registry shares many standards and practices with the UK registry and flies the Red Ensign.

"We understand that there is no likelihood in the foreseeable future of weddings at sea being permitted on UK registered ships but we have already seen strong demand in the UK for our weddings on board.

"Operating under the Bermudan registry will make no difference in costs and we remain fully committed to the employment of British officers, who are fundamental to the P&O Cruises' brand, and we are equally committed to the existing nationalities of our ratings.

British staff "We market almost exclusively to the British market, we run our business from Southampton, we employ increasing numbers of British staff both on board and ashore and continue to increase our contribution to the British economy.'' Mr Dingle said P&O has made no decision on whether the company's other Southampton based ship, Aurora, would be re-flagged in the future so as to allow weddings on board.