S.L. 425.14 Art. 57Repatriation.

(1) When a fishing vessel is in a port outside Malta's jurisdiction, or at sea and heading towards such a port, the master and owner of the fishing vessel shall do all that is reasonably required so as to repatriate a fisherman to Malta, in any one of the following circumstances:

(a) when the fisherman's work agreement has expired;

(b) when the fisherman's work agreement has been terminated for justified reasons by one or more of the parties to that agreement; or

(c) when the fisherman is no longer able to carry out the duties required under the fisherman's work agreement or cannot be expected to carry out those duties in the specific circumstances of the fisherman and the fishing vessel:

Provided that when a fishing vessel is bound to return to Malta, or to a port outside the jurisdiction of Malta in the circumstances provided under sub-regulation (4), and such a return is planned within a maximum period of a week from when the relevant facts entitling a fisherman to repatriation arise, then such a period shall be deemed to be reasonable for the purposes of this regulation.

(2) Without prejudice to sub-regulation (3), the costs for the repatriation of the fisherman according to sub-regulation (1) shall be borne by the fishing vessel owner:

Provided that repatriation should happen as soon as possible and should the fisherman not be repatriated within a reasonable time or should the fishing vessel owner refuse to repatriate the fisherman, the fisherman may opt to repatriate himself at his expense:

Provided further that any repatriation expenses paid for by the fisherman shall be without prejudice to his right according to law to recover such expenses and any applicable damages from the fishing vessel owner when the latter were obliged to bear such costs according to this regulation.

(3) When the repatriation was caused by the negligence or bad faith of the fisherman himself, the fishing vessel owner shall have the right to recover any repatriation costs suffered by them, without prejudice to any applicable damages according to law.

(4) The fisherman and the fishing vessel owner, may agree in writing to repatriate the fisherman outside the jurisdiction of Malta:

Provided that a copy of such agreement is delivered to the Director upon request or in any case not later than the working day following the return of the fishing vessel within the jurisdiction of Malta.

(5) The provisions of this regulation are without prejudice to any right of the fishing vessel owner to recover repatriation costs under third party contractual agreements.

(6) In case the fishing vessel owner does not cover the repatriation expenses of a fisherman and the fisherman is not reasonably capable of covering those expenses according to sub-regulation (2), the Government of Malta shall cover those expenses:

Provided that the Government of Malta shall have a right to recover the same expenses from the fishing vessel owner.

Regulations 58 - 59: Deleted by: L.N. 233 of 2021.