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Malta

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" Serving the world...

...from Malta "

Weather in Malta

18.3°C few clouds

few clouds

Time Zones:

New York

Malta

Shanghai

" Serving the world...

...from Malta "

About Us

GM International Services Limited

Welcome to Malta

In the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, seventy miles south of Sicily, and almost equidistant between Cyprus, at the one end, and Gibraltar at the other, lies Malta. Although fairly small in size, Malta has exercised an influence on the History of the Mediterranean quite out of proportion to their size. Almost every power that dominated, or attempted to dominate, the Mediterranean, made use of Malta’s magnificent natural harbours, and Malta commanded the north-south trading routes between Sicily, Italy and North Africa, as well as a large part of the east-west routes.

Malta today remains an important shipping centre, not only for the Mediterranean, but for the whole world. The Malta Drydocks is one of the largest ship repairs yards in Europe and has customers in over 40 countries. Regular containerised and conventional Liner Services link Malta to the major ports of the world and the Malta Freeport boasts the most modern cargo handling equipment and extensive warehousing facilities for the handling, storage and part manufacturing of goods destined for the Mediterranean, Black Sea, Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf markets as well as an oil storage and blending facility.

The Merchant Shipping Act came into force in 1973 and today the register has some 20 million gross tons duly registered.

 

Welcome to GM International Services Limited

GM International Services Limited, a subsidiary of Economicard Worldwide Limited, is the largest and longest established shipping services company in Malta. Our first two companies, namely Maltathens Shipping Ltd and Maltapireo Shipping Ltd, were registered on 13th May 1977. Until 1987 we commanded almost 95% of Malta’s tonnage; today, despite ever increasing competition, we remain Malta’s premier ship registration company, and we have contributed to a large extent in attaining Malta’s sixth largest registry in the world.

At GM International Services Limited we offer a very comprehensive service that incorporates all aspects of ship registration. Apart from ship and yacht registration, clients can choose from a range of services including agency, husbandry, bunkering, chandling, transhipments, secretarial, accountancy and legal services, including registration of mortgages. 

Years of experience have taught us at GM International Services Limited that efficiency, speed, confidentiality and quality service are the only criteria for success in a competitive market. We pride ourselves on our ability to offer clients a very specialised service with plans tailor-made to meet individual needs. We are one of the few companies able to offer clients such a wide range of services under one roof.

GM has earned itself a favourable reputation on the international market through the efforts of our company Chairman, John A. Gauci-Maistre K.M. who is well known for his contributions to various prestigious shipping and maritime international magazines and his participation in many international fora and conferences. He has personally organised our group’s own seminars in, among other places, London, Piraeus and Oslo. GM International Services Limited is present at all Maritime and Shipping exhibitions around the world, promoting our various specialised services.

Malta’s geographical location as well as forming part of the European Union could well make it the best registration option for ship owners the world over. At GM International Services Limited we also believe Malta to be the optimum location for ship management. The Island’s strategic location makes it an important base for trade and telecommunications between North Africa and Europe and the rest of the world.

We believe that it is possible to serve the world from Malta.

Meet Our Team

John A. Gauci - Maistre K.M. -  CEO


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Dr Jean-Pie Gauci-Maistre B.A., MICS, Dip. Tax, MSc (WMU), LL.D. - Director / Advocate


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Despoina Xynou -  Advocate


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Charles Caruana -  Head of Shipping Department


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Maria Sakka -   Shipping Administrator


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The following advantages are offered to ship owners who wisely choose to register their ships in Malta. The major advantages and tax concessions may be summarised as follows:

  1. In respect of Maltese ships having a net tonnage exceeding 1000 net tons (defined as "exempt ship"):

    a. The owning company shall be exempt from Income Tax on any gains or profits derived from the ownership or operation of the exempted ship;

    b. No Income Tax shall be payable on dividends paid by the company to the shareholders if such dividends are paid out of the gains or profits mentioned in paragraph (a) above;

    c. No Succession and Donation duties are payable on shares of the owning company; and

    d. No stamp duty shall be payable in respect of any instrument involving:
    1. the registration of an exempted ship (such as the Bill of Sale); and
    2. the allotment of any newly issued shares, transfer, assignment or negotiation of any share or stock of any such company.
       
  2. Ships of under 1000 net tons (excluding pleasure yachts) may qualify for the above exemptions only if the shareholders of the owning company are non-residents and non-domiciliaries of Malta.
     
  3. There are no restrictions under the Maltese exchange control (Central Bank) regulations for the registration, mortgaging, sale and operation of Maltese ships, the distribution of dividends/profits and repatriation of funds.
     
  4. No restrictions whatsoever are imposed on the nationality of the master, certified officers and crew employed on Maltese ships.
     
  5. There are no restrictions on the sale of ships registered in Malta to foreign nationals.
     
  6. There are no restrictions on the mortgaging of ships registered in Malta in favour of foreign nationals.
     
  7. There are no trading restrictions on Maltese ships.
     
  8. No inspections are necessary for vessels under 15 years, whereas vessels aged between 16 and 20 years may carry out an inspection within one month of provisional registration, without incurring any inspection fees.
     
  9. There is no restriction on the sale or transfer of shares, or stock of a company owning a Maltese ship.
     
  10. Fast registration and de-registration system.
     
  11. A Body corporate established under the Laws of Malta, having a place of business in Malta, need not have its principal place of business in Malta in order to own a Maltese ship. Similarly, there is no requirement for the Maltese Body corporate to have any Maltese directors/officers.
     
  12. Although a deletion certificate from the previous flag, Carving & Marking Note and Bill of Sale are required by law within thirty days, this period may be unofficially extended.
     
  13. Ships registered in Malta are subject to low fees.
     
  14. A Maritime Agreement is in force with the Russian Federation whereby Maltese flagged vessels calling at Russian Ports receive preferential treatment especially in respect of Port dues and taxes.
     
  15. The Merchant Shipping Directorate (formerly Malta Maritime Authority) gives a 24 hour service, seven days a week. A Registrar and a technical advisor are on call after office hours (including weekends and public holidays) for urgent requirements.


OTHER ADVANTAGES

  • A flexible and efficient Maritime Authority
     
  • Political stability and excellent relations with local authorities
     
  • Good reputation as a flag of choice and confidence
     
  • Tax treaties with most major countries
     
  • Excellent telecommunications and efficient air services

 

 

Our Commitment to Privacy
Your privacy is important to GM International Services Limited (“GMI”). This privacy statement discloses our information gathering and dissemination practices for this web site and serves to ensure that you are fully informed about the information which we may collect about you, the manner in which we collect, use and store the information, and your rights at law in regard to such information.

GMI is registered with the Data Protection Commissioner as a Data Controller. This Privacy Statement is complaint with the Data Protection Act (Chapter 440 of the Laws of Malta).

Data Policy
Any personal information you provide on this website is controlled by GMI.

Your Personal Information
Occasionally you will be asked to submit personal information about yourself (e.g. name, e-mail address) in order to receive or use services on our website. Such services may include details of events, newsletters, publications or advice.

By entering your details in the fields requested and pressing “Register” you are consenting to the processing of your information by GMI and its agents, in accordance with this data policy. You may also provide personal information to use when you contact us by e-mail, telephone or letter. Whenever you provide this personal information, we shall treat that information in accordance with this policy. Our services are designed to give you the information you have requested. GMI will, at all times, act in accordance with current legislation and aim to meet current internet best practice.

Use and Storage of your Personal Information

When you supply any personal information to us, we have legal obligations in the way we deal with that information. We must collect the information fairly. That is, we must explain how we will use it. This Data Policy explains how we will use your personal information.

• We will use personal information provided by you or gathered by GMI for the following purposes:
• To process and respond to requests, enquiries and complaints received by you.
• To provide services requested by you.
• To communicate with you about services provided to you.
• To update our records.
• To analyse trends and profiles.
• For audit purposes.
• To carry out customer satisfaction research.
• To prevent or detect fraud.
• To recommend products and services we believe will be of interest to you.
• To enable third parties to carry out any of the purposes set out above on our behalf.

If you are notified that your personal information may be used to allow GMI to contact you for “service administration purposes”, this means that GMI may contact you for a number of purposes related to the service for which you have signed up. For example, we may wish to provide you with password reminders, or notify you that the particular service has been suspended or changed.

We will not contact you for promotional purposes unless you specifically agree at the time you register your information on the site, or at a later time, if you sign up specifically to receive such promotional information.

GMI strives to protect the security of any data provided by you or gathered by GMI about you, and will update it from time to time in order to ensure that it is always up-to-date in accordance with its legal obligations.

We will hold your personal information on your systems for as long as is necessary for the purposes set out and we will remove it when the purposes have been met, unless you agree to future communications with us.

The Information we collect
On some pages, you can register to receive materials. The types of personal information collected at these pages are:
Your Name
Your Company’s Name
Your Email address
How to contact us

If you have other questions, would like to see the information we hold about you, or would like to be removed from any of our mailing lists, please contact our Marketing department.