Malta is “very well positioned” to attract more luxury cruise ships to its nautical registry, with a deep knowledge of owners’ and financiers’ needs guiding local authorities and service providers in offering a regime “which does not compromise on very high international standards whilst understanding the sector and providing tailored services depending on the fleet concerned.”

This view was shared by leading Maltese maritime lawyer and Comité Maritime International President Ann Fenech after her firm assisted in the registration of the Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection’s third vessel on the Maltese Ship Registry.

The 226-suite Luminara joins the Elvira and Ilma to proudly fly the Maltese flag around the world’s oceans, offering passengers an exclusive experience that brings the Ritz-Carlton’s famous hospitality offering to the seas.

Putting Malta on the map for cruise ships was no easy task, however. Dr Fenech recounts that although the country had made “very serious inroads” with the registration of hugely reputable fleets of merchant cargo vessels, containerships and tankers by the late ’90s, cruise liners tended to stick to their traditional registries in the Caribbean.

“It took many, many efforts from the side of the private sector in particular – which was always the medium which went out into the industry and ‘sold’ the Malta flag – to convince the first cruise line operators to come to Malta and register their ships in Malta,” she says.

Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Tui, MSC all followed, with Malta now occupying an enviable position as Europe’s largest ship registry for several years.

Asked what attracted the Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection to Malta, Dr Fenech says the answer is no different to the factors that attract other major ship owners.

“It’s a combination of things,” she says. “The Malta flag comes with a very stable legal regime in all its important facets, including being foremost in its ratification of all of the important international safety and regulatory international conventions, which has seen Malta as a white listed flag for decades, as well its being a council member of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) – hence its very strong international reputation.”

She also points to the “strong legal basis” which ship owners and their financiers need, require and demand: “The Malta Flag a European Flag, which brings with it peace of mind to the ship owner and his financier. Additionally, English is an official language, which means that owners can immediately understand the laws under which their vessels are being registered, and it also means that the authorities will accept the various registration documents in English, avoiding the sometimes hugely bureaucratic translation challenges which you have with other registries.”

Dr Fenech notes that the Malta Ship Registry is open on a 24-hour basis for urgent matters: “This means that owners who come from one continent and their financiers who come from another continent may because of time differences need to register their ship and mortgage at what would normally be considered as outside office hours. The Maltese registry is open on a 24-hour basis for urgent matters and it is perfectly possible to register and mortgage a vessel at say 2am.”

Having also been engaged to handle the mortgage security financing aspect of the transaction, Dr Fenech sheds light on Malta’s offering for financiers.

“The Maltese mortgage is what is called an ‘executive title’. What this means in practice is that if things go south for a ship owner who becomes unable to meet their mortgage repayments, the mortgagee – the financier – can proceed directly against the vessel without the need to embark on very time consuming actions on the merits. The mortgagee can proceed directly with enforcement, get the vessel sold in a judicial sale and hopefully get paid.

“This is a very powerful tool in the hands of the financiers which also assists owners in getting first class financing. As a result the Malta flag is a flag of choice with a great number of leading ship financiers.”

Tying it all together is the deep knowledge of the industry on the part of the legal and corporate service providers coupled with maximum co-operation from the flag administration and efforts made by successive governments in this area, which “should be the catalyst for the continued growth and development of this sector,” according to the industry stalwart.

Image credit: Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection