L.N. 346 of 2019
MERCHANT SHIPPING ACT 
(CAP. 234)
Merchant Shipping (Counting and Registration of Persons on 
Board Passenger Ships) Regulations, 2019
IN E
XERCISE of the powers conferred by article 374 of the
Merchant Shipping Act, the Ministe r for Transport, Infrastructure and
Capital Projects has made the following regulations:
Citation, scope 
and 
commencement.1. (1) The title of these re gulations is the Merchant
Shipping (Counting and Registrati on of Persons on Board Passeng er
Ships) Regulations, 2019.
(2) These regulations transpose the measures contained in
Directive (EU) 2017/2109 of the European Parliament and of the
Council of 15 November 2017 amen ding Council Directive 98/41/EC
on the registration of persons sailing on board passenger shipsoperating to or from ports of the Member States of the Communit y and
Directive 2010/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Coun cil
on reporting formalities for ship s arriving in and/or departing  f r o m
ports of the Member States.
(3) These regulations shall c ome into force on 21 December
2019.
Definitions. 2. In these regulations, unless the context otherwise requires:
Cap. 234 "the Act" means the Merchant Shipping Act; 
"company" means the owner of a passenger ship or any
other organisation or person such  as the manager or the bareboa t
charterer, who has assumed responsibility for operating the
passenger ship from the owner; 
"Directive 98/41/EC" means Council Directive 98/41/EC
of 18 June 1998 on the registration of persons sailing on boardpassenger ships operating to or fr om ports of the Member States
of the Community, in its up-to-date version;
"Directive 2009/45/E" means Directive 2009/45/EC of the
European Parliament and of the Council of 6 May 2009 on safetyrules and standards for passenger ships, in its up-to-date vers ion;
"Directive 2010/65/EU" means Directive 2010/65/EU ofB 2571
Suppliment tal-Gazzetta tal-Gvern ta’ Malta Nru. 20, 318, 20 ta’ Diċembru, 2019
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the European Parliament of t he Council of 20 October 2010 on
reporting formalities for ships arriving in and/or departing fr om
ports of the Member States and repealing Directive 2002/6/EC,
in its up-to-date version;
"EU Member State" means a Member State of the European
Union (including, for the avoidance of doubt, Malta) or of the
European Economic Area;
"Maltese passenger ship" means a passenger ship which is a
Maltese ship registered in terms of Article 3(1) of the Act;
"passenger ship" means a ship or a high-speed craft which
carries more than 12 passengers;
"Registrar-General" means the Registrar-General of
Shipping and Seamen appointed in terms of article 363 of theAct.
(2) Unless otherwise defined in the Act or in these regulations,
or unless the context otherwise requires, words and expressions  used
in these regulations shall have the same meaning assigned to th em in
Directive 98/41/EC.
 
Application. 3. These regulations shall apply to Maltese passenger ships,
with the exception of:
(a) ships of war and troop ships;
(b) pleasure yachts  and pleasure craft;
(c) ships exclusively engaged in port areas.
Passenger 
counting. 4. (1) The company shall ensure that all persons on board a
Maltese passenger ship which departs from a port located in an EU
Member State are counted before that passenger ship departs. 
(2) Before the passenger ship d eparts, the number of persons
on board shall be communicated to the master of the ship and, e ither
reported by appropriate technical means in the single window
established pursuant to Artic le 5 of Directive 2010/65/EU, or
communicated to the Registrar-Ge neral by means of the Automatic
Identification System: 
Provided that, by derogation from the aforementioned
paragraph, such information may continue to be communicated to the
company's passenger registrar or to the shore-based company sys tem
that performs the same function, until 20 December 2023.
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Additional 
requirements for 
voyages of more than twenty 
miles.5. (1) Where a Maltese passenger ship departs from a port
located in an EU Member State in order to undertake a voyage of
which the distance sailed from th e point of departure to the ne xt port of
call exceeds twenty miles, the fo llowing information shall be recorded: 
(a) the family names of the  persons on board, their
forenames, their gender, their  nationality, their dates of birth;
(b) when volunteered by a passenger, information
concerning special care or assistance that might be needed in a n
emergency;
(c) when volunteered by the passenger, a contact number
in case of an emergency. 
(2) The information listed in sub-regulation 1 shall be collecte d
before the passenger ship's depa rture and reported in the singl e
window established pursuant to Article 5 of Directive 2010/65/E U
upon the passenger ship's departure but in no case later than f ifteen
minutes after its departure: 
Provided that, by derogation from the aforementioned
paragraph, such information may c ontinue to be communicated to the
company's passenger registrar or to the shore-based company sys tem
that performs the same function, until 20 December 2023.
(3) Without prejudice to other  legal obligations on data
protection, personal data collected for the purposes of theseregulations shall not be processed and used for any other purpo se.
Such personal data shall always be handled in accordance with the
applicable data protection and pr ivacy legislation and shall be erased
automatically and without undue delay once it is no longer needed.
Reporting of 
information.6. (1) In respect of every Maltese passenger ship, which
departs form a port located outsi de an EU Member State which is
bound for a port located within an EU Member State, the company
shall ensure that the information specified in regulations 4(1)  and 5(1)
is provided in accordance wit h regulations 4(2) and 5(2).
Maximum 
number of passengers.7. Before a Maltese passenger shi p departs form a port located
in an EU Member State, its master shall ensure that the number of
persons on board does not exceed the number the passenger ship is
permitted to carry. 
Passenger registrar. 8. (1) Each company assuming responsibility for operating
a Maltese passenger ship shall, where required under regulations 4 and
5 of these regulations, appoint  a passenger registrar responsib le for
reporting the information referre d to in those provisions in th e single
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window established pursuant to A rticle 5 of Directive 2010/65/E U or
to the Registrar-General by means of the Automatic Identification
System.
(2) Personal data collected in accordance with regulation 5 of
these regulations shall be kept by the company no longer than i s
necessary for the purposes of these regulations, and in any event onlyuntil the moment the ship's voyage in question has been safely
completed and the data has been reported in the single window
established pursuant to Article  5 of Directive 2010/65/EU. With out
prejudice to other specific legal obligations, including for st atistical
purposes, once the information is no longer needed for this purpose, itshall be erased automatically and without undue delay. 
(3) Each company shall ensure that information concerning
passengers who have declared a ne ed for special care or assista nce in
emergency situations is properly recorded and communicated to the
master before the passenger ship departs.
Data 
registration.9. (1) Companies shall establish and keep in place a
procedure for data registration which guarantees that informati on
required by these regulations is reported in an accurate and ti mely
manner. 
(2) The Registrar-General, shall have access to t he information
required under these regulations, when so required. 
(3) Personal data collected in accordance with regulation 5
shall be retained no longer than is necessary for the purposes of these
regulations, and in any event, no longer than: 
(a) until the moment the ship's voyage in question has
been safely completed, but in any case not longer than 60 days
after the ship's departure; or 
(b) in the event of emer gency or in the aftermath of an
accident, until any investigation or judiciary proceedings have
been completed. 
(4) Without prejudice to other specific legal obligations,
including obligations for statis tical purposes, once the inform ation is
no longer needed for the purposes of these regulations, it shal l be
erased automatical ly and without undue delay.
Data to be 
collected 
without undue delay.10. (1) For the purposes of these  regulations, the required
data shall be collected and recorded in such a way that no undu e delay
is caused for passengers embarking or disembarking the vessel. 
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(2) A multiplicity of data colle ction on the same or similar
routes shall be avoided.
Data protection. 
Cap. 586.11. The processing of personal data pursuant to these
regulations shall be carried out in accordance with Regulation (EU)
2016/679, as implemented by the  Data Protection Act.
Offences and 
penalties.12. Any person, who contravenes any of the provisions of these
regulations shall be guilty of a n offence and shall, on conviction, be
liable to a fine ( multa ) not exceeding two thousand units.
Repeal.
S.L. 234.25.13. The Merchant Shipping (Counting and Registration of
Persons on Board Passenger Ships) Regulations are hereby repeal ed.
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