Cap. 226 Art. 6Actionwithrespect tovesselwithinthe contiguous zone.

(1) Any maritime enforcement officer on board a relevant vessel or craft may, within the contiguous zone, take appropriate action with respect to any vessel, other than a foreign military vessel or a ship owned by a foreign state used only for non-

commercial service, whether flying the Maltese or any other flag or not flying any flag, reasonably suspected of having on board any person reasonably suspected of being about to commit or of having committed within the jurisdiction of the Maltese courts any relevant offence.

(2) Where following appropriate action having been taken in respect of a suspect vessel flying a foreign flag no suspicion remains that an offence against the laws of Malta has been committed by any member of the crew of that vessel, the same vessel may be kept under surveillance until it is out of the limits of the contiguous zone.

(3) Where following appropriate action having been taken in respect of a suspect vessel, whether pertaining to Malta or flying a foreign flag, the suspicion remains that any person on board the vessel has committed within the jurisdiction of the Maltese courts any offence against the laws of Malta, any maritime enforcement officer may take any further appropriate action in respect of that person and of the vessel and crew.

(4) Where the master of a suspect vessel has been required to take the vessel to a port or harbour in Malta, the members of the crew of the vessel suspected of being about to commit or of having committed an offence within the jurisdiction of the Maltese courts shall be handed over to the Police for further investigation. one or more of the following matters:

(a) the safety of navigation and the regulation of marine traffic, including the designation or establishment of sea lanes and traffic separation schemes to be used or observed for the passage of ships;

(b) the protection of navigational aids and facilities and other facilities or installations;

(c) the protection of cables and pipelines;

(d) the conservation of the living resources of the sea;

(e) the prevention of infringement of any law or regulation relating to fisheries;

(f) the preservation of the environment and the prevention, reduction and control of pollution thereof;

(g) marine scientific research and hydrographic surveys;

(h) the prevention of infringement of any customs, fiscal, immigration or sanitary laws or regulations;

(i) the arrest, detention and seizure of ships to ensure compliance with any law, rule, regulation or order and such other power as may be necessary for securing such compliance;

(j) the punishments, whether by way of fine (multa or ammenda) or of imprisonment, to be applied in respect of any contravention or non-observance of any regulation made under this article.

(2) In the application of any regulation made under subarticle

(1) to warships or to nuclear powered ships or to ships carrying nuclear or other inherently dangerous or noxious substances, their passage through territorial waters may, by any such regulation, be made subject to the prior consent of, or prior notification to, such authority as may be specified therein.