The maritime sector now accounts for 14% of Malta’s GDP
Malta’s maritime sector now accounts for 14 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product, said Transport Minister Ian Borg, with the country doubling its tonnage on ships registered in the last nine years. years.
Around 9,300 vessels were registered in Malta last year, generating € 24 million in revenue for the Malta Ship Register.
“The maritime industry has many aspects but when we focus on the register we can really understand the success we have had and how this has translated into tangible value for the country,” said Borg.
The maritime sector with numbers
The tonnage on Maltese registered vessels, which is the total carrying capacity of all registered vessels in Malta, has gone from 49 million tonnes in 2012 to 86.1 million tonnes at the end of 2021, said the Minister.
The number of vessels registered last year marked an increase of 2.2 percent over the previous year.
Compared to 2012, Malta has increased its merchant ship register by 82 percent, Borg said, with the maritime industry now accounting for 14 percent of gross domestic product.
About 100,000 sailors were also registered as members of the sea crew in Malta.
1,000 superyachts
In terms of superyachts, which are categorized as pleasure boats that are 24 meters or more in length, Malta still has the largest number of ships in the world.
At the end of 2021, there were 1,000 registered superyachts in Malta, up from 850 in 2020, which at the time was also the largest superyacht register in the world.
Borg said as a registrar of ships, Malta has the largest flag in the European Union and the sixth largest in the world and has been elected to the council of the International Maritime Organization for the 13th time.
Thanks to a study commissioned with EU funding, Malta has also drawn up a strategy on how to digitize services in the maritime industry and is expected to receive an additional € 6.5 million in funding from the recovery and resilience plan. EU to implement, Borg. he said.
The EU Commission will be using this as a pilot project to see how the plan for the digitization of maritime services can be implemented in other member states.
Freelance journalism costs money. Times of Malta Support for price of coffee.
Support us