Our legal team provides advisory services to legal persons and individuals wishing to register any type of yachts under the Maltese Flag.
Also, we can assist in the providing the necessary services in connection with all the formalities in registering a yacht with Transport Malta and acquiring a Valletta flag for such yacht.
The Benefits Of Registering
Your Yacht In Malta:
Further to the fiscal and jurisdictional benefits registering your yacht in Malta could mean that you receive the following additional benefits:
⚓ Fast and efficient system for registering.
⚓ Registry that can be contacted 24/7.
⚓ Option to register any vessel, from an oil rig to pleasure boat.
⚓ Option to register either as a commercial or private pleasure boat.
⚓ Option to register boats as equipped or under construction.
⚓ Access to cabotage in the EU when flying the Maltese flag.
⚓ High quality, reputable, credible and secure registry.
⚓ Option to register boats on the behalf of legal corporate entities and bodies, regardless of their nationality.
Need Our Assistance With Yacht Registration Under Maltese Flag?
Get Support From Our Specialised Professionals:

We provide full array of yacht registration services:
- Advisory services to individuals and legal entities who wish to register yachts under the Malta Flag.
- Services on the adoption of efficient tax structures at maximising the particular needs of the yacht owner.
- We may act as a resident agent for the registration of a company in Malta to act as owner of the yacht and liaise with certified surveyors as well as the shipping Directorate of Transport Malta in order to have the provisional / permanent registration.
Yacht Registration in Malta | Overview from our Experts:Sail under the Maltese flag
Once you have bought a yacht, you are probably looking forward to sailing along the Med to visit all those European coastal resorts and towns you’ve always wanted to visit.
However, there is more to owning a yacht than just buying it and sailing it. You need to think carefully about the jurisdiction you are going to register your yacht in.
Malta is one of the most popular choices for boat owners, but is it right for you? In the following post, we will look at some important things you should know before registering your new yacht under the Maltese flag.
1. Malta Is A EU Member And Compliant With EU Directives.
As a member state of the EU, Maltese regulations and laws all fall in line with directives established by the EU and is signed most of the UN, ILO and IMO international conventions.
Further to this though, Malta has, even more, to give for yacht registration in Malta. It is now a very reputable financial and business centre, thanks to its social, fiscal and governmental stability.
With a strong maritime heritage, it has great facilities at the natural harbours it has and a very skilled and diligent group of workers in this industry. So not only is it well placed but is sufficiently equipped for dealing with boating activity, another reason to register your yacht in Malta.
As well as being a respected and internationally-recognised jurisdiction, the country also has a number of positive attributes that set it apart from others as a good choice for yacht registration in Malta. Such as:
- Strong legal infrastructure that offers a high level of security for those involved in finance;
- VAT and tax benefits;
- Low costs for tax tonnage and VAT Leasing;
- It is on the Paris MOU white list;
- Offering the opportunity to mortgage or sell super-yachts and yachts registered in Malta;
- No restrictions on trading of any kind.
2. There only a few limitations in place for Maltese yacht ownership and registration.
Anyone, for instance, can own a boat in Malta, as long as they are an EU citizen or have a business registered in any member state of the EU.
The nationality of the crew, officers, master or anyone else responsible for manning the boat is not restricted and you are not restricted to sail to any posts across to the world.
If you are interested in using your yacht commercially along the Med, yacht registration with Malta will give you the necessary EU footprint to make it easy to obtain a charter license.
3. Private and commercial yachts registration
Depending on the purpose of use, all ships are classified as private and commercial purpose.
Any pleasure yacht of 6 metres in length or more, which is used for the sole purpose of the owner only maybe privately registered.
Such a yacht can be registered both as in the personal name of the individual as well on behalf of the corporate body or other entity.
Any yacht of 15 meters in length or more, which do not carry cargo, carries not more than 12 passengers may be registered for the commercial purpose.
A yacht can be registered both as in the personal name of the individual as well on behalf of the corporate body or other entity owning this yacht for the commercial use.
A non – EU citizen may register his boat under Maltese flag together with the company incorporation.
The following classes of yachts are considered as for commercial registration:
- Yachts in commercial use of not less than 15 metres in length and not more than 24 metres.
- Superyachts in commercial use of more than 24 metres in length and less than 500 gross tons.
- And Superyachts in commercial use of more than 24 metres in length and 500 gross tons and over.
The above classification is due to the difference in tonnage tax rate depending on the year of build and length of the vessel.
4. Malta provides boat owners with a number of tax benefits.
Malta provides boat owners with a number of tax benefits and a very competitive scheme for leasing pleasure boats, such as tax exemptions and VAT reductions.
As outlined in the Merchant Shipping Act, a stamp duty exemption is in place on the tonnage of your registered tonnage tax ship.
This means you do not have to pay stamp duty if you transfer or sell your tonnage tax ship. It is also worth noting that operating or using a commercial boat that makes money is not liable for income tax.
That is, providing that you pay the annual registration charge and tonnage tax.
Even if a commercial boat is not exempt, it could still benefit from the low 3% income tax rate. Further to this, foreign income tax generated on the boat’s commercial activities may be available in the form of a credit to income tax liable to pay in Malta, meaning that the rate is reduced to as low as 0%.
There is a special VAT regime in Malta, which gives charter boats commencing in Malta for less than 90 days reduced VAT when part of the charters includes non-EU territorial waters. When a boat is used on the sea commercially there is no Malta VAT on the boat’s value, and there are VAT exemption/-refunds available for any services and goods purchased for chartering operations on a commercial boat.
Official website Transport Malta: www.transport.gov.mt/ship-registration