S.L. 234.19 Art. 18Measurement and certification.

(1) The owner and the master of a ship to be measured shall make it available for measurement by a surveyor and afford all necessary facilities for its inspection, survey and measurement and shall produce such plans, drawings, specifications and other documents relating to the ship that the surveyor may require for his use or retention.

(2) The tonnage of a ship shall be the sum of -

(a) the product of multiplying together its length overall, extreme breadth over the outside hull and depth in metres ancl multiplying the resultant figure by 0.16; and

(b) the tonnage of any break or breaks, calculated for each break by multiplying together its mean length, mean breadth and mean height in metres and multiplying the resultant figure by 0.35.

(3) For the purpose of this Part -

(a) the breadth of a ship shall be its extreme breadth over the outside plating, planking or hull, no account being taken of rubbers or fenders even if they are moulded so as to be integral with the hull;

(b) the depth of a ship shall be measured vertically at the mid-point of the length overall.

(i) The upper terminal point for depth shall be -

(aa) in the case of a decked ship, the underside of the deck on the middle line or if there is no deck on the middle line at the point of measurement, the underside of the deck at the side of the ship plus the full deck camber;

(bb) in the case of an open ship, the top of the upper stroke or gunwale.

(ii) The lower terminal point of depth shall -

(aa) in the case of a wooden ship, the upper side of the plank at the side of the keel or hog;

(bb) in the case of a metal ship, the top of the plating at the side of the keel;

(cc) in the case of a glass reinforced plastic ship, the inside of the hull. Where no keel member is fitted and the keel is of open trough construction, the lower terminal point for depth shall be the top of the keel filling, if fitted, or the level at which the inside breadth of the trough is 10 centimetres, whichever gives the greater depth.

(iii) Where a break exists in way of the point of measurement for depth, the height of the break shall not be included in the measurement of depth.

(c) the hull length of a ship shall mean the length of the hull measured in accordance with the harmonised standard, whereas the phrase "harmonised standard" shall have the meaning set out in paragraph (c) of Article 2(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council on European Standardisation (in its up to date form).

(4) The tonnage determined in accordance with sub-regulation

(2) shall be the gross tonnage and net tonnage.

(5) In the case of a multi-hull ship the tonnage of each hull shall be measured separately and the sum of such tonnages shall be used in computing the tonnage referred to in sub-regulation (2).

(6) All measurements used in the calculations of volumes shall be taken and expressed in metres to the nearest one hundredth of a metre.

(7) Tonnage shall be expressed to two decimal places, the second decimal place being increased by one if the third decimal place is 5 or more.

(8) On completion of the measurement and if it is in order to do so, the certifying authority shall issue to the owner of every ship, the tonnages of which have been ascertained in accordance with this Part of these regulations, a Certificate of Survey (Tonnage Measurement) for Maltese Ships under 24 Metres Length, other than Fishing Vessels with overall length equal or greater than 15m in the form set out in the Fifth Schedule or as near thereto as circumstances permit, certifying the tonnages of the ship and containing the particulars to be shown thereon and such particulars, if any, as the Registrar-General may deem proper.

(9) Where alterations are made in the arrangement, construction, capacity, use of spaces, total number of passengers the ship is permitted to carry under the terms of the ship’s passenger certificate, assigned load line, or permitted draught of the ship such as would cause an increase in the tonnage, the existing measurement shall cease to be valid, any certificate shall be delivered up to and cancelled by the certifying authority and the owner of the ship shall make an application for it to be re-measured in accordance with sub-regulation (1).

(10) Notwithstanding the provisions of sub-regulation (2), nothing in this Part of these regulations shall be taken to require any ship the tonnage of which was validly determined under the Tonnage Regulations in force immediately before the coming into force of these regulations to have its tonnage re-determined.