COUNTING AND REGISTRATION OF 
PERSONS ON BOARD PASSENGER SHIPS [ S.234.25 1
SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION 234.25
MERCHANT SHIPPING (COUNTING AND 
REGISTRATION OF PERSONS ON BOARD 
PASSENGER SHIPS) REGULATIONS
1st November, 2002
LEGAL NOTICE 149 of 2002, as amended by Legal Notice 349 of 2003.
Short title.
(Counting and Registration of Persons on Board Passenger Ships)
Regulations.
Interpretation.
Amended by:
L.N. 349 of 2003.
Cap. 234.
2. In these regulations, unless the context otherwise
requires-
''the Act'' means the Merchant Shipping Act;
''appropriate search and rescue services'' means, in relation to a
ship involved in an emergency, the search and rescue services for
the area in which the ship is located;
''approved'' means:
( a ) in respect of any Maltese passenger ship when it
leaves any landing place, approved by the Registrar-
General; and
( b ) in respect of any passenger ship when it leaves any
landing place in Malta, approved by the Director,
sohowever that in respect of any Maltese passenger ship when it
leaves any landing place in Malta, approved means approved both
by the Director and the Registrar-General;
''Community ship'' means a ship which is registered in, or which
is entitled to fly the flag of, a Member State;
Cap. 352.
''Director'' means the Executive Director responsible for ports
appointed under article 8 of the Malta Maritime Authority Act, or
any other person or officer authorised by him to act on his behalf;
''high speed craft'' means a high speed craft as defined in
regulation 1 of Chapter X of the Safety Convention;
''international voyage'' means a voyage from a country to which
the Safety Convention applies to a port outside that country, or
conversely;
''landing place'' means any berth, excursion place, floating pier,
pier, port, stop or anchorage place from or to where passengers are
embarked or disembarked;
''mile'' means a nautical mile of 1852 metres;
''passenger registrar'' means the person appointed by the owner of
a ship pursuant to regulation 7(1)( b );
''passenger ship'' means a sea-going ship or a sea-going high-
speed craft carrying more than twelve passengers;
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COUNTING AND REGISTRATION OF 
PERSONS ON BOARD PASSENGER SHIPS
''person'' means any person on board a ship irrespective of their
age;
''protected sea area'' means a sea area sheltered from open sea
effects where a ship is at no time more than six miles from a place
of refuge where shipwrecked persons can land and in which the
proximity of search and rescue facilities is ensured;
''regular community service'' means a regular service in a sea
area where the annual probability of the significant wave height
exceeding two metres is less than 10% and - 
( a ) the voyage does not exceed thirty miles or thereabouts
from the point of departure; or
( b ) the primary purpose of the service is to provide regular
links to outlaying communities for customary
purposes;
''regular service'' means a series of ship crossings operated so as
to serve traffic between the same two or more ports either -
( a ) according to a published timetable; or
( b ) with crossings so regular or frequent that they
constitute a recognisable systematic series; 
''search and rescue services'' means the search and rescue
services responsible for the initiation and co-ordination of all
maritime search and rescue activity required to provide assistance
in the event of an emergency involving a ship or its aftermath;
Cap. 226. ''territorial waters of Malta'' shall have the same meaning as is
assigned to it in the Territorial Waters and Contiguous Zone Act;
''the Safety Convention'' means the International Convention for
the Safety of Life at Sea signed in London on 1st November, 1974
including any amendment or Protocol related thereto as may from
time to time be ratified, acceded to or accepted by the Government
of Malta and other instruments, standards and specifications of a
mandatory nature related thereto adopted or developed by the
International Maritime Organisation;
''Maltese passenger ship'' means a passenger ship which is a
Maltese ship;
''voyage'' includes an excursion.
(2) Where a ship is managed or operated by a person other than
the owner whether on behalf of the owner or some other person, or
on his own behalf, a reference in these regulations to the owner
shall be construed as including a reference to that other person.
(3) Any approval or exemption given pursuant to these
regulations shall be given in writing and shall specify the date on
which it takes effect and the conditions, if any, on which it is given.
Application. 3. (1) These regulations shall apply to any -
( a ) Maltese passenger ship wherever it may be; and
( b ) other passenger ship while it is within the territorial
waters of Malta.
COUNTING AND REGISTRATION OF 
PERSONS ON BOARD PASSENGER SHIPS [ S.234.25 3
(2) These regulations shall not apply to any -
( a ) ship of war;
( b ) troop ship; or
( c ) pleasure yacht unless it is or will be crewed and carry
more than 12 passengers for commercial purposes.
Passenger 
counting.
4. (1) The owner of any passenger ship shall ensure that, in
respect of any Maltese passenger ship when it leaves any landing
place and in respect of any  passenger ship when it leaves any
landing place in Malta, there is an approved system capable of
counting all persons on board which conforms to the requirements
of subregulations (2) to (5).
(2) The system of counting established pursuant to
subregulation (1) of this regulation shall be such that:
( a ) all persons boarding such a ship at a landing place at
the beginning of a voyage are counted individually on,
or just prior to, boarding and, as the case may be -
(i) all persons disembarking at subsequent landing
places, during the course of a voyage, are
counted individually as they disembark;
(ii) all persons boarding at subsequent landing
places, during the course of a voyage, are
counted individually on, or just prior to,
boarding; and
(iii) the number of persons remaining on board at
each landing place is determined; or
( b ) the number of persons is determined and recorded
according to an approved alternative method, which
shall be of equivalent effectiveness to the system set
out in subregulation (2)( a ).
(3) Immediately before a passenger ship leaves any landing
place the total number of persons on board at that time as
determined by means of the counting system shall be
communicated to the master of the ship and the passenger registrar.
(4) If, in respect of any person on board a ship, any person has
declared a need for special care or assistance in emergency
situations, the owner shall ensure that such information is properly
recorded and communicated to the master of the ship.
(5) No passenger ship shall leave any landing place if:
( a ) the requirements of subregulations (3) or (4) have not
been complied with; or
( b ) the total number of persons on board the ship exceeds
the number of persons the ship is permitted to carry.
(6) The arrangements made in pursuance of the requirements
in subregulation (1) shall be described in written instructions which
shall be kept on board the ship at all times in the custody of the
master.
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COUNTING AND REGISTRATION OF 
PERSONS ON BOARD PASSENGER SHIPS
Additional 
requirements for 
voyages of more 
than twenty miles.
5. (1) This regulation shall apply to:
( a ) any Maltese passenger ship leaving any landing place -
(i) inside the territory of the European Community
on a voyage of more than twenty miles from that
landing place; or
(ii) outside the territory of the European Community
on an international voyage; and
( b ) any passenger ship leaving any landing place in Malta
on a voyage of more than twenty miles from that
landing place.
(2) The owner of any passenger ship to which this regulation
applies shall ensure that -
( a ) the following information is collected, in relation to
each person on board, before the ship departs from the
landing plac:
(i) family name;
(ii) forenames or initials;
(iii) gender;
(iv) an indication of the category of age (such
category being either adult, child or infant) to
which the person belongs or the age or the year
of birth of the person; and
(v) if volunteered by a person, any information
concerning the need for special care or
assistance in emergency situations.
( b ) the information specified in paragraph ( a ) is -
(i) communicated to the passenger registrar within
thirty minutes of the ship’s departure from the
landing place; and
(ii) in respect of any such information as is specified
in paragraph ( a )(v), communicated to the master
of the ship before the ship leaves the landing
place.
Non-Community 
ships on voyages 
from outside the 
European 
Community to 
Malta.
6. In respect of any passenger ship which is not a Community
ship on any voyage from any landing place outside the territory of
the European Community to Malta the owner shall make -
( a ) information as to the total number of persons on board
the ship; and
( b ) the information specified in regulation 5(2)( a );
readily available to the appropriate search and rescue services for
the purposes of search and rescue in the event of an emergency or
in the aftermath of an accident involving the ship.
Registration 
system.
7. (1) The owner of a passenger ship to which regulation 4 or
5 above applies shall -
( a ) establish an approved system for the registration of the
information collected pursuant to these regulations
which shall meet the following functional criteria:
COUNTING AND REGISTRATION OF 
PERSONS ON BOARD PASSENGER SHIPS [ S.234.25 5
readability - the required data must be in a
format that is easy to read;
availability - the required data must be easily
available to the designated authorities;
facilitation - the system must be designated in
such a way that no undue delay is caused for
passengers embarking and, or disembarking the
ship;
security - the data must be appropriately
protected against accidental or unlawful
destruction or loss and unauthorised alteration,
disclosure or access;
( b ) appoint a shore-based passenger registrar who shall be
responsible for holding the information collected
pursuant to these regulations and for its transmission
to appropriate search and rescue services in the event
of an emergency or in the aftermath of an accident
involving the ship; and
( c ) ensure that the information collected pursuant to these
regulations is at all times readily available for
transmission to the appropriate search and rescue
services for use in an emergency or in the aftermath of
an accident involving the ship.
(2) Any personal data which is collected solely pursuant to
these regulations by an owner shall be kept only for as long as is
necessary for the purposes of these regulations.
(3) The Director and the Registrar-General may carry out
checks on the proper functioning of registration systems approved
under this regulation.
(4) In performing the checks referred to in subregulation (3),
the Director and the Registrar-General shall -
(i) be entitled to board any ship to which the
registration system relates and enter any
premises of the passenger registrar; and
(ii) have access to any records and documents,
including electronic and computer records,
which comprise the owner’s  registration
system.
Exemptions.
any landing place within Malta - 
( a ) from the requirements of regulation 4(3) in so far as
they apply to communicate the number of persons on
board to the passenger registrar if the ship is engaged,
exclusively in a protected sea area, on a regular service
of less than one hour between calls at landing places;
or
( b ) from the requirements of regulation 5(2) if the ship
sails exclusively in a protected area between two
landing places or from and to the same landing place
without calling at any intermediate landing place or
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COUNTING AND REGISTRATION OF 
PERSONS ON BOARD PASSENGER SHIPS
the ship is engaged on a regular community service.
(2) The Registrar-General may exempt any Maltese passenger
ship leaving any landing place outside the territory of the European
Community on an international voyage from the requirements of
regulation 5(2), if the scheduled voyages of the ship make it
impracticable for such records to be prepared.
