Maritime

Ship Registration

The Flag of Confidence

• Serious and efficient maritime administration
• Flag state inspectorate to ensure adherence to international standards
• Twenty four hours, seven days a week service in respect of urgent matters
• Sound multilateral and bilateral relations
• Active participation in international shipping fora.

Advantages of Registering a Ship under a Maltese Flag

• Ships may be registered in the name of legally constituted corporate bodies or entities irrespective of nationality, or by European Union citizens.
• low company formation, ship registration and tonnage tax costs;
• progressive reduction in registration and tonnage tax costs for younger ships
• these incentives may also be extended to smaller ships
• no restrictions on the nationality of the master, officers and crew
• no restrictions on the sale or transfer of shares of a company owning Maltese ships
• no restrictions on the sale and mortgaging of Maltese ships
• no trading restrictions and, preferential treatment to Maltese ships in certain ports
• twenty four hour, seven days a week service in respect of urgent matters
• Malta is an international maritime centre providing the whole range of maritime services.
• attractive incentives to owners, registered charterers and financiers of Maltese ships of over 1,000 net tonnage;

Guide on Ship Registration (English)

Superyacht Registration

Under the Malta Flag a yacht may be registered as a Private yacht or a Commercial yacht.

Private Registration

The Merchant Shipping Directorate considers a private registered yacht to be any pleasure yacht, of 6 metres in length or more, which does not carry passengers for reward and is not engaged in trade but is used for the sole purpose of the owner.

Commercial Registration

A commercially registered yacht is considered to be a yacht, of 15 metres in length or more, which do not carry cargo, carries not more than 12 passengers and operated by the owner or body corporate owning the yacht for commercial use.

The following classes of yachts will be considered for commercial registration:

• Yachts in commercial use of not less than 15 metres in length and not more than 24 metres.
• Superyachts in commercial use of more than 24 metres in length and less than 500 gross tonnes.
• Superyachts in commercial use of more than 24 metres in length and 500 gross tonnes and over.

Yacht registration whether private or commercial is a very simple and straight forward process subject that all documentation is in order. Yachts are first registered provisionally under the Malta Flag for six months (extendible for a further period, or periods not exceeding in the aggregate six months) during which period all documentation needs to be finalised.