The CYC 2025 Is Here. What Yacht Owners Need to Do Now.

Malta’s Commercial Yacht Code 2025 took effect on 1 July 2025. If your yacht is 24 metres or more and commercially registered, the clock is already running.

Here is the deadline, and it is not a single date. Existing yachts must comply by their first renewal survey after 31 December 2025. So 2026 is the transition year, and your deadline is your own survey date.

That sounds generous. It is how yachts end up doing compliance work in June.

Four changes to check against your vessel.

Which code you are in. Only 24 metres and over falls under the main code. Between 12 and 24 metres you are under the Small Commercial Yacht Code, which came in during April 2024. Confirm this before reading anything else, because it decides which rules apply.

Your sailing range. The code sets three navigational notations, which is the official term for how far from a safe port the yacht may work. Short range is 60 nautical miles, extended short range is 150, and the third is unrestricted. Extended short range has been formalised in this edition and suits a lot of central Mediterranean operations. Pick it against how the yacht will actually earn.

Private yachts over 500 gross tonnes. Gross tonnage measures enclosed volume, not weight. Above 500 of them, a private yacht now has to comply as far as is reasonable and practicable, with an initial survey judged against commercial criteria. This used to be voluntary. If you are in this bracket and assumed the private register kept the code out, it does not.

Planned refits. A yacht going through a large conversion now has to meet full 2025 new-build standards. The old position, where a rebuilt yacht largely kept the standards it was built to, is gone. Price this into the refit before the yard contract is signed.

There is also crew work to do. The code aligns with the Maritime Labour Convention, the international agreement setting minimum working and living standards at sea. Accommodation standards were updated, fatigue management is addressed directly, and safety training became mandatory for non-crew personnel. That last one reaches people who used to sit outside the crew rules: security staff, a nanny, a seasonal chef, a technician aboard for a passage.

And two equipment points. Asbestos is banned in new installations, and lightning protection is now mandatory.

So, in order: confirm your code, find your survey date, get a gap assessment from a competent surveyor, choose your notation against real use, and book the yard period yourself.

The owners who will have a bad 2026 are not the ones with old yachts. They are the ones who find out in May.

For the full briefing, read our guide: The Commercial Yacht Code 2025: What Owners Need to Know.

Zenco Partners handles Malta flag registration and the structure behind the vessel, and works the compliance timetable around the season. To review a specific yacht, email info@zencopartners.com or message us on WhatsApp at +356 7921 2598.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, tax, or financial advice. Professional advice should be obtained before taking any action based on the contents of this article.