Malta Bareboat charter registration allows ship owners the option to capitalise on the use of their vessels by providing more operational flexibility. Two scenarios of this type of Malta vessel registration are allowed by Maltese law: the bareboat charter registration of foreign ships under the Malta flag and the bareboat charter registration of Malta ships under a foreign flag.
The key criterion for any of the two types of bareboat charter registration to take place is the compatibility of the foreign ship registry with the Maltese ship registry. Foreign compatible registries include Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Estonia, France, Gibraltar, Liberia, Marshall Islands, Panama, Russia Federation, Singapore, Turkey and Ukraine. Given that, new foreign registries are constantly being added to this list, clients are kindly asked to contact us should they wish to query about the compatibility of a foreign registry.
Bareboat Charter Registration of foreign ships under the Malta flag
The maximum period for such type of registration is two years, which period may be further extended for additional periods of two years each should the parties involved agree to do so. The registration procedure does not differ much from normal registration of a vessel and the documents to be filed comprise a declaration of bareboat charter accompanied by the charter agreement together with consent letters from the underlying registry, owners and mortgagees.
Vessel registered as bareboat charter need to conform to the same obligations and also benefit from the same rights and privileges accorded to vessels registered under the Malta flag.
Bareboat Charter Registration of Maltese ships under a foreign flag
The first step to carry out this type of registration involves the issue of consent by the Maltese maritime authority to that effect. Such consent will only be issued upon filing and review of certain documents such as consent by registered owners and mortgagees, and evidence of compatibility of foreign registry where applicable.
