Actions Against Sister-Ships Under Maltese Admiralty Law

Malta and its islands lie at the cultural, financial and geographical crossroads of the Mediterranean Sea, strategically located at the confluence of the major sea-lines linking Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. Thus, given that Malta's unique position affords easy access to these markets and beyond it is an unsurprising fact that it embraces the largest ship registry in Europe. As a consequence of this fact, a number of issues frequently arise in respect of advancing a claim against a particular ship. Given that it is not always possible to act against the ship giving rise to the claim, the law has sought to provide a possible remedy to advance the claim against an alternative ship. This work examines the possible remedies and their limitations, in advancing such claims in terms of Maltese Law, whilst providing a comparative analysis of some of the most influential jurisdictions in admiralty law.