Yachts removed from moorings for not paying fees

The Malta Maritime Authority has again clamped down on yacht owners who failed to pay berthing fees.

MMA personnel, escorted by an Armed Forces of Malta patrol boat, yesterday removed two yachts from their moorings at the yacht marina in Msida and towed them to Grand Harbour. The yachts were lifted on hard standing and placed in protective custody at Laboratory Wharf.

The MMA said the action was taken after its repeated requests to the owners of the two yachts to pay their berthing fees were ignored. The situation could no longer be tolerated and the MMA said its action signalled its firm stand not to allow any more abuses.

Earlier this year, the MMA had announced its intention to step up its actions against all boat owners who repeatedly failed to honour their respective berthing fees. In fact, in a similar exercise last April, the MMA had evicted two yachts from the Msida marina.

Since then, a number of berth holders had settled overdue invoices and moreover, paid all their dues in time.

In a circular, the MMA had reminded all berth holders to settle all their dues in time and warned well in advance that measures had been put in place that could lead to the forced eviction of boats from the marina.

According to the Yachting Centres Regulations, payment of berthing fees must be effected six months in advance.

The authority has also warned all berth holders that any person caught tampering with the electricity supply will be prosecuted.

It notified berth holders that whilst every effort would be made to accommodate individual client requirements, the MMA would not allow this to be done at the expense of other berth holders.

The authority reiterated that it intended to pursue all legal steps to ensure that all due payments were settled.

More actions would be taken against defaulters in the future, the MMA said.