Cap. 234 · Merchant Shipping Act (Cap. 234)
Cap. 234 Art. 263Submersionofload lines.
PART V
(1) Where a foreign ship to which the load line provisions of this Act apply is within any port in Malta and is marked with load lines, the ship shall not be so loaded that -
(a) if the ship has no list, the appropriate load line on each side of the ship is submerged, or
(b) if the ship has a list, the appropriate load line on each side of the ship would be submerged if the ship had no list.
(2) Articles 253(2), (3), (5) and (6) shall have effect for the purposes of this article as if any reference to sub-article (1) of that article, or to paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) of the said sub-article (1), were a reference to sub-article (1), or as the case may be, to the corresponding paragraph of sub-article (1): Provided that, in the case of a ship to which article 261 applies, the ship shall not be detained, and no proceedings shall be brought by virtue of this sub-article, unless the ship has been inspected by a ship surveyor or engineer surveyor in pursuance of article 266.
(3) In relation to a ship in respect of which a valid Convention certificate is produced, "load line" in sub-article (1) means a line marked on the ship in the position of a load line specified in that certificate; and for the purposes of the application of the relevant provisions to such a ship in any circumstances for which a particular load line is specified in the certificate, the "appropriate load line" means the load line which, in accordance with the certificate, indicates the maximum depth to which the ship may be loaded in salt water in those circumstances.
(4) Where a valid Convention certificate is not produced in respect of a ship, then, for the purposes of the application of the relevant provisions to that ship in any circumstances prescribed by the load line rules in accordance with paragraph of article 251(2)(d), "the appropriate load line" means the load line which, in accordance with those rules, indicates the maximum depth to which the ship may be loaded in salt water in those circumstances.
(5) In sub-articles (3) and (4) "the relevant provisions" means the provisions of article 253(1) as applied by sub-article (2).