The Merchant Shipping Directorate within the Authority for Transport in Malta (the ‘Directorate’), has recently issued the revised Commercial Yacht Code 2020 (the ‘CYC 2020’) which succeeds the former Commercial Yacht Code 2015 (the ‘CYC 2015’).
The feedback received by the Directorate from customers, regulators, stakeholders and other interested parties led to the changes implemented in the CYC 2020. The central aim of these improvements is to elevate Malta’s commercial yacht regulatory regime by addressing the needs, challenges and technological realities of the market whilst ensuring conformity with international safety regulations and standards. In fact, many of the developments introduced by the CYC 2020 are safety oriented and technical in nature, reflecting the endless technological advancements of this dynamic industry.
The CYC 2020 comes into force on the 1st of January 2021 and is applicable to all commercial yachts. Those commercial yachts which have already been certified under the CYC 2015 are obliged to comply with the requirements of the new law by no later than the yacht’s first periodical survey carried out after the 1st June 2021. A degree of consideration is being afforded by the Directorate and the law itself to the phasing-in of the new or optimised applicable requirements imposed on existing yachts.
A list of the main improvements introduced in the CYC 2020 can be found in Annex 1 of the law. The full text of the CYC 2020 can be accessed here.
The Directorate has also recently published a draft version of the Malta Passenger Yacht Code 2020 (the ‘PYC 2020’) for consultation purposes. With encouragement from the yachting industry, the Directorate aims to regulate passenger yachts exceeding 500GT, which carry more than 12 passengers up to 36 passengers, which carry not more than 200 persons, which do not carry cargo and which are engaged on international voyages. The PYC 2020 draft legislation shall remain open for consultation until the end of February 2021. The full text of the draft PYC 2020 can be accessed here.
For further information and enquiries regarding the yachting industry, kindly contact Fenech Farrugia Fiott Legal on [email protected].