S.L. 234.55 Art. 3Application.

(1) These regulations shall apply to all Maltese ships wherever they may be and to all other ships while they are in Maltese territorial waters.

These regulations shall not apply to:

(a) ships not designed or constructed to carry Ballast (BALLAST WATER MANAGEMENT CONVENTION)

Water;

(b) Maltese Ships which only operate in waters under the jurisdiction of Malta;

(c) Maltese Ships which only operate in waters under the jurisdiction of another Party to the Convention, subject to the authorisation of the latter Party for such exclusion;

(d) ships which only operate in waters under the jurisdiction of Malta and on the high seas, except for ships not granted an authorisation pursuant to paragraph (c) of this sub-regulation;

(e) any warship, naval auxiliary or other ship owned or operated by a State and used, for the time being, only on government non-commercial service;

(f) Permanent Ballast Water in sealed tanks on ships that is not subject to discharge;

(g) pleasure craft used solely for recreation or competition or craft used primarily for search and rescue, less than 50 metres in length overall, and with a maximum Ballast Water capacity of 8 cubic metres:

Provided that:

- such craft shall exchange Ballast Water outside port waters and as far from the coast as practically possible;

- when loading Ballast Water, every effort should be made to avoid the uptake of potentially harmful aquatic organisms, pathogens and sediments that may contain such organisms;

- Ballast Water should be exchanged prior to discharge in accordance with regulation B-4 of the Convention; and

- any chemical treatment shall only use Active Substances approved by the International Maritime Organization.