Charter boat ordered out of protected bay after blaring music, shouts - rangers
The vessel was sailing without its required tracking system being switched on, the rangers said
A charter boat was ordered to leave a protected bay on Thursday after being caught blasting loud music accompanied by the shouts of revellers, in breach of environmental protection regulations, according to the Malta Sea Ranger Unit (MSRU).
The vessel was also sailing with its vessel AIS tracking system turned off, “making them invisible on radars” in breach of Transport Malta (TM) regulations, the rangers said, writing on Facebook.
Times of Malta is informed that the vessel was the Gulet Kelsea operated by Malta Gulet Charters, which denied any intentional wrongdoing.
While TM “had no enforcement assets available” at the time of the incident, the control room managed to get hold of the boat, and it was ordered to leave the area shortly afterwards, the rangers said.
The unit said the vessel was “not only causing nuisance to all the other people in the area trying to enjoy the tranquillity, but also disturbing the protected wildlife”, pointing out the bay is home to nesting Shearwater birds.
“Our Rangers have filed a report with Transport Malta, urging them to not be lenient. It's the obligation of the captain of vessels to be up to date with regulations,” MSRU said, noting that the rules protecting the bay had been in place “for several years now”.
Several bays across the country are protected by regulations established following the EU-funded LIFE Arċipelagu Garnija project, which aimed to secure the Maltese islands for the species.
Speed limits, light and noise emissions are tightly controlled within certain areas under the Environment and Resources Authority regulations designed to protect nesting Shearwater birds.
A spokesperson for the charter company said they were in contact with authorities about the incident, but stressed it had “never been our intention to do any harm”.
The spokesperson said that while they supported environmental protection efforts and the rangers’ work, the incident should have been reported “and it should have stopped there”, arguing that additional media attention “will only cause harm”.
They added that the rangers should “get their facts straight before posting online”, without providing further details, while reiterating that they were in contact with authorities about the incident.
This is the second such incident in less than a week. On Saturday night, a brightly lit charter boat was caught on camera emitting blaring music in a protected bay in flagrant breach of the same regulations, according to the rangers who highlighted the case.
Posting on social media about Saturday’s incident, the rangers described it at the time as one of the “many cases” where captains of commercial vessels were not following the laws.
While the Malta Ranger Unit has been active since 2023, the MSRU has been operating for about a year, established as an offshoot of the main NGO last June.
The rangers have highlighted noise pollution as one of the “biggest issues” facing the limited maritime enforcement available, which the NGO described last year as “limited”.
The land-based Malta Ranger Unit responds to around 3,000 reports of environmental illegalities each year, with around three-quarters of reports confirmed as breaches of the law.
The rangers have said that the MSRU's long-term aim is to employ rangers at sea.