A merchant vessel both at the time that is being registered as a Maltese ship and during the period of its registration under the Malta flag must be classed with a classification society authorised to issue statutory certificates on behalf of the Government of Malta.

The latest list of these authorised classification societies is as follows:

• American Bureau of Shipping (ABS)
• Bureau Veritas (BV)
• China Classification Society (CCS)
• Croatian Register of Shipping (CRS)
• ClassNK (NK)
• Det Norske Veritas (DNV)
• Indian Register of Shipping (IRS)
• Korean Register of Shipping (KR)
• Lloyd’s Register (LR)
• Polish Register of Shipping (PRS)
• Registro Italiano Navale (RINA)
• Russian Maritime Register of Shipping (RS)

Meantime, with effect from the 01st of March 2021, one of the world’s leading shipping classification society, DNV GL, has been rebranded and changed its name to DNV.

To this effect, all Statutory Certificates and other Class related certificates or documents issued/endorsed on behalf of the Government of Malta, for Malta Flag vessels, shall remain valid under the existing Recognized Organisation Agreement, unless they become invalid pursuant to the Rules of the Classification Society or the applicable Statutory Regulations. Therefore, Maltese flagged vessels are not required to amend or re-issue these certificates reflecting this name change.

Furthermore, to reduce the burden on Ship Owners, Managers and Operators, the Maltese Merchant Shipping Directorate, will not require the Continuous Synopsis Record (CSR ) to be amended and re-issued; thus, it shall remain valid unless any other information on it is changed. The new DNV brand logo shall be reflected on the new CSR once this Directorate is in receipt of the new Class certificates and the CSR application form.

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