Commercial Yacht Registration Malta

In order to qualify as a Maltese commercial yacht, the yacht in question must be coded in line with the Maltese Commercial Yacht Code, as per the following link.

Furthermore, although Maltese commercial yachts of less than 500 GT do not require to be certified in line with the Maritime Labor Convention (MLC), all Maltese commercial yachts require to be MLC compliant, and Certificates of Insurance issued in accordance with the MLC would have to be obtained for all Maltese commercial yachts of any size.

The Maltese Registry of Shipping (Transport Malta) launched the 3rd edition of the Commercial Yacht Code in 2015, which regulates the registration of all commercial yachts starting off from a minimum length of 15 meters, carrying not more than twelve (12) passengers and not any kind of cargo aboard.

All yachts covered by the Code must be surveyed, certified and maintained according to the applicable category requirements. An Initial Survey should be conducted when initially joining the Flag, and after completion Transport Malta will issue a Certificate of Compliance (COC) valid for five (5) years.

All Maltese commercial yachts under 24 meters should undergo an intermediate survey between the 2nd-3rd year and after joining the Flag. A Renewal one should be conducted within three (3) months before expiration of the Certificate of Compliance (COC), whereas all those over 24 meters should be undergoing an annual survey each year, and within this 5-year period.

All those surveys should be conducted either by recognized Classification Societies or Maltese Government approved surveyors.

Crew certification is subject to the yacht's length and gross tonnage. A Minimum Safe Manning Certificate (MSMC) should be compulsory for crafts over 24 meters. Any nationality of the crew should be acceptable.

According to the Commercial Yacht Code, all Maltese-flagged commercial yachts should be carrying onboard adequate transmitting/receiving radio equipment for the kind of commercial operation they are involved.

Provisional Registration could be done either under a Maltese Registered entity or a non-Maltese one (in the latter case this entity should be registered as an International Owner with the Registrar of Shipping and appoint a Resident Agent). For applying provisionally a proper application, complete with Declaration of Ownership, full list of radio equipment, certificate of insurance, MLC compliance, Builder's Certificate or the yacht's Certificate of Conformity (CE Marking) should be also submitted.

And for vessels over 24 meters additional documentation should be also submitted (anti-fouling, International Tonnage Certificate, Certificate of Class, ISM, Continuous Synopsis Record, etc).

Provisional registration should be granted initially for six (6) months, extended thereafter to another three (3), other two (2) and finally one (1).

Permanent registration should require original Bill of Sale, Carving & Marking, Certificate of Survey and original Deletion Certificate from the previous Registry/Flag.

Transport Malta fees for registration are dependent on the yacht's year of build, length & tonnage. Once we receive these details we will prepare our quotation which would include the applicable fees and costs for the first year of registration etc.