Cap. 234 ст. 160Certificaterequired where seaman is left behind. 

(1) The master of a Maltese ship shall not leave a seaman or an apprentice behind at any place, ashore or at sea (except where the seaman is discharged in accordance with this Act), unless he previously obtains, endorsed on the agreement with the crew the certificate of the shipping master or of a Maltese consular officer stating the cause of the seaman or apprentice being left behind, whether the cause be unfitness or inability to proceed to sea, desertion, disappearance, or otherwise.

(2) The officer to whom an application is made for a certificate under this article shall examine into the grounds on which a seaman or an apprentice is to be left behind, and for that purpose may, if he thinks fit, administer oaths, and may grant or refuse the certificate as he thinks just, but the certificate shall not be unreasonably withheld.

(3) If the master of a ship fails to comply with this article he shall (without prejudice to his liability under any other provision of this Act) be liable for each offence to imprisonment for a period not exceeding two years or to a fine (multa) not exceeding five hundred units or to both such imprisonment and fine, and in any legal proceedings for the offence it shall lie on the master to prove that the certificate was obtained, or could not be obtained, or could not be obtained without unreasonable delay to the ship, or was unreasonably withheld.