Ongoing Shipping Support

Our maritime practice enjoys wide recognition, and we offer clients an array of shipping services as well as support as ongoing support as highlighted below.

Ship Radio Licences

There are two types of ship radio licences:

Provisional Radio Licence

Upon the application for the Provisional Radio Licence, the Merchant Shipping Directorate assigns the MMSI number which will accompany the provisional radio licence. The Merchant Shipping Directorate may issue the MMSI number and the Call Sign in advance, upon receipt of ten per cent of the initial vessel registration fees.

Permanent Radio Licence

For the application of a Permanent Radio Licence a new application would need to be completed.

The Radio licences are issued valid according to the validity date of the permanent Certificate of Malta Registry and will lapse on the same day of the Certificate of Malta Registry. The renewal of radio licence may be issued valid either for one, two or three years.

STCW95 Certification Endorsement

STCW (Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping) Endorsement Certificates

All officers serving on board ships going to sea and holding certificates of competence not issued by the Maltese administration must hold an endorsement attesting recognition by the Maltese administration of their certificate of competence.

An officer may be accepted to serve on board Maltese vessels without an endorsement certificate for a maximum of three months, provided that the initial application has been submitted to the Malta Shipping Registry. An acknowledgement confirming receipt of application is issued by the Authority and serves as proof of application for endorsement.

Recognised Classification Societies

A merchant vessel at the time and for the duration of its registration in Malta must be classed with a Classification Society authorised to issue statutory certificates on behalf of the government of Malta. The following is a list of the classification societies recognised by the Authority for Transport in Malta:

American Bureau of Shipping (ABS)

Bureau Veritas (BV)

China Classification Society (CCS)

Croatian Register of Shipping (CRS)

Class NK (NK)

Det Norske Veritas Germanischer Lloyd (DNVGL)

Korean Register Of Shipping (KR)

Lloyd’s Register of Shipping (LR)

Polish Register of Shipping (PRS)

Registro Italiano Navale (RINA)

Russian Maritime Register of Shipping (RS)

Hellenic Register of Shipping

Furthermore, for the time being, Maltese ships classed with and certified by any of the classification societies listed may continue to be so classed and certified. However, new requests for classification with any of these societies shall be treated on a case-by-case basis.