Malta’s ship registry has placed 17th in the Paris MOU’s white list, breaking into the top 20 for the first time.

The port state control agreement carries out regular inspections to assure quality among maritime administrations and covers European and North American waters.

Its publication of white, grey and black lists gives added value to a nation’s flag.

Malta’s has the largest registered fleet in Europe and the sixth-largest globally.

In a press conference at Fort St Angelo on Friday morning, Transport Minister Ian Borg said that good results in the shipping industry did not come about by accident but were due to the hard and diligent work of the state regulator.

“We are striving to create quality, confidence and a good reputation in the industry, by not only seeking out quantity but quality vessels to enrich the fleet,” Borg said.

With a less than 2% detention rate, Malta has also done well in the Tokyo MOU, similarly placing in 17th place on the white list.

The minister also noted that Malta had doubled its tonnage from 42 million to 83 million in seven years and the shipping industry currently accounted for some 14% of the GDP while creating high-value jobs.

Malta’s fleet, Borg continued, also included 800 superyachts at the end of 2019 and in the first seven months of this year had registered another 37.

Maltese flagged superyachts are a particularly niche industry that attracted attention to Malta in a different way, Borg said, saying that even casual snaps of celebrities such as Crisitano Ronaldo, holidaying on Maltese flagged ship boosted the regulator’s profile and reputation.

The minister also noted that when a vessel was registered in Malta, interest also brought investment, as is the case in the recently signed agreement between MSC and Palumbo shipyards.