Shipping

Industry

Shipping

Malta's success as a shipping jurisdiction is deeply rooted in its history. See how our shipping Lawyers can assist you through a vast array of services.

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Summary

Strategically located in a crossroads between three continents, Malta has established itself as a leading maritime centre offering an array of services and facilities to the marine industry. This, combined with Malta’s reputation of an experienced, reliable and efficient shipping jurisdiction, has positioned Malta as the largest ship register in the European Union and the sixth largest in the world. In addition to being party to numerous international conventions and regulations for the uses of the Sea and continental shelf, Malta is in the White-List of the Paris Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control. Hence, ships flying the Malta Flag are less likely to be detained in ports for breach of international conventions.

key contacts

ccmifsud@ccmalta.com +356 2205 6298

Dr. Charlene Mifsud

Partner

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Malta’s Maritime & Shipping Sector

The maritime services sector has celebrated circa four decades of unprecedented success, with its fanfare dating back even before the accomplishments of Malta’s financial services, gaming and insurance industries. Malta boasts a long maritime tradition, emanating from the islands’ colourful history, modern facilities and reputation as a highly regulated country. Malta’s shipping register’s success is also supported by numerous, reputable shipping-related service providers, including maritime lawyers, agents, brokers, insurers, accountants and banks offering comprehensive services to owners and operators of ships worldwide. With the recent introduction of new legislation enabling clients to set up ship management entities in Malta, the country has now completed its offering in this area.

Shipping in Malta

Deemed as a very accessible jurisdiction, Malta, unlike other jurisdictions, does not impose restrictions on the type of vessels which can be registered under its flag thus giving a number of ship owners the possibility of registering unconventional vessels under the Malta flag.

From an ownership and operational perspective, Malta also provides an array of tax efficient solutions. A Malta shipping organisation may be set up with the main purpose of owing the ship and subsequently being registered as the owner of the vessel. As an additional bonus to better accessibility, these shipping organisations benefit from various fiscal advantages.

Indeed, Malta presents significant tax advantages through its tonnage tax regime whereby qualifying ships (tonnage tax ships) pay a fixed tonnage tax fee and in turn the Malta ship owning/operator company is totally exempt from paying tax on income from shipping activities relating to the ship. Other benefits apply including: an exemption from tax on the distribution of profits derived from shipping activities to the shareholders and an exemption from the payment of stamp duty on the disposal of shares in a licensed shipping organisation that owns, charters, operates, administers or manages a tonnage tax ship.

Our Malta Shipping Team

Experienced in all facets of the Shipping industry, Chetcuti Cauchi assists and represents individual or corporate clients throughout different stages of vessel ownership. This includes:

vessel sale and purchase
chartering and leasing agreements
marine mortgages, or other forms of securities
discharge of mortgages
ship owning and ship management companies
registration of vessel
bareboat charter registrations
tax advice

Chetcuti Cauchi holds strong links with all sectors of shipping and maritime law and the firm has specialised lawyers, accountants and tax consultants in all maritime-related fields of law including ship finance, litigation and admiralty, and is the preferred maritime law firm for banks, other financial institutions and ship-owners seeking the most effective and advantageous financing.

Our Shipping Products

Malta Shipping Companies

Our Shipping Services

Malta Pleasure Yacht Registration

Malta Endorsement of Seafarers Services

Dr Natasha Cachia’s experience in Financial services in Malta were invaluable to Porterpays team as we establish our business here in Malta. They have worked in a professional manner and were constantly supportive and open to understand new innovative ways in payments and provided us with a stellar advice.

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Chetcuti Cauchi Advocates boasts an incredibly diverse and talented team. Everyone brings skills, knowledge and experience to the table, creating a dynamic and collaborative environment.

Antoine is very professional and knows his field of expertise very well.

I have had the pleasure of having Chetcuti Cauchi as my lawyers for my Maltese Citizenship application and also for property acquisition in Malta. I am extremely satisfied with their professionalism and attention to detail at all times making them, in my experience, one of the best law firms I have ever dealt with anywhere. I am truly honoured to be their client and shall continue to remain so.

The professionalism and international collaboration of Chetcuti Cauchi’s team are a testament to their cohesive corporate culture. They are prompt in communication and consistently reliable, always delivering on their promises and never committing to tasks they cannot fulfil. This dependability gives us great peace of mind at the start of every project. In particular, we have been working with Magdalena Velkovska and Antoine Saliba Haig, who have been pivotal in building our trust in CC.

Chetcuti Cauchi has embraced a flexible and modern approach to hybrid working. Rather than prescribe a set number of office days, the firm empowers employees to exercise their judgement in how they manage their working schedule. So long as underlying principles of providing an excellent client service and a collaborative team environment are met, employees have a great degree of freedom in how, and where, they work.

Chetcuti Cauchi has been doing many different aspects of IP work for us for several years, and I have always been more than satisfied with their work. All the people at the firm with whome I have been in contact have been very professional, efficient and quick in their efforts to assist us. Dr Maria Chetcuti Cauchi has always kept me well informed about every angel of the matters we have dealt with, extremely professional and I fully trust her advice and suggestions. Another thing which I have appreciated is her swift way of replying to our requests.I can highly recommend the firm Chetcuti Cauchi to anybody who needs IP advice on Malta.

Chetcuti Cauchi Advocates offers great ability and strength in handling and resolving difficult and complex matters.

I approached Chetcuti Cauchi with the objective of establishing a company in order to provide public health information management services to collaborators throughout the European Union.From my first interaction with them through phone discussions and emails to ongoing communications and a visit to their offices in Valletta, I have been extremely pleased with their professionalism, competence, and timeliness.They have been very attentive to the specific needs of my company’s collaborations and have provided much-valued guidance and support both in establishing the company and in its ongoing operations.Iam very satisfied with the work so far, and look forward to more successful interactions in the future.

Chetcuti Cauchi is a firm with very educated and knowledgeable lawyers and advisors.

Dr. Chetcuti has always shown great wisdom and knowledge. He’s remarkably courteous and client-oriented.

My wife and I have an association with Chetcuti Cauchi since 2009. They assisted us with our original residence permit applications for Malta and since then have taken care of our annual income tax submissions and PR sticker / E-residence card renewals. They always handle our matters very efficiently and professionally. The consultants that work with us are friendly, helpful and very competent. They are familiar with the regulations and procedures in the related government departments, and this makes the process run extremely smoothly for us. We are very satisfied with the service we received from Chetcuti Cauchi and will continue to maintain our relationship with them in future. We can highly recommend them for any of the services that they offer.

Jean-Philippe was a key advisor to me on the general European and in particular Maltese related tax, legal, accounting and secretarial aspects of a rather complex corporate group structure. We were operating in an extremely dynamic situation, and I was most grateful for his patience and understanding when we had to scrap the last idea and start all over again. He is highly professional, responsive and is excellent at finding practical solutions to difficult situations, whatever the time of day or night. He also has an excellent relationship with his team, and the service provided by his firm is intelligent, joined up and seamless. He is good humoured and imminently likeable and I look forward to working with him again in the future.

Not only do Chetcuti Cauchi have experience, they’re academically proficient as well. They offer a wide variety of different expertise.

Chetcuti Cauchi Advocates is a very strong team with a great understanding of complex matters. They enjoy a profound knowledge and expertise.

I highly recommend the services of Chetcuti Cauchi. They assisted me as my appointed Resident Agent with the MDIA, they fully understood my requirements and also have a great reputation as a top law firm in Malta, making them an ideal chioce. They delivered my project on scedule, which had a tight deadline.