Can a bank take a mortgage over a Malta-registered ship as security?

Yes, Maltese maritime law, under the Merchant Shipping Act, Chapter 234 of the Laws of Malta, specifically provides for the registration of mortgages over Maltese-registered vessels, and this is actually one of the well-established features that makes the Malta flag attractive to international shipping finance, since properly registered ship mortgages benefit from clear legal priority rules and strong creditor protections recognised both domestically and internationally, giving lenders meaningful confidence when financing vessels under this framework. Once a mortgage is properly registered against the vessel in the Maltese ship registry maintained by Transport Malta's Merchant Shipping Directorate, it generally establishes the lender's security interest with a clear priority ranking relative to other registered mortgages or claims against the vessel, following the specific order in which they were registered, and this registered mortgage would generally need to be properly discharged and removed from the registry once the underlying loan is repaid in full. Given the specific technical and legal requirements involved in properly registering a ship mortgage, including correctly documenting the underlying loan and security arrangement in a way that satisfies both Maltese registry requirements and your lender's own conditions, this is a matter that should be handled by a maritime lawyer experienced in ship finance to ensure the mortgage is validly registered and properly protects the lender's, and by extension your own, interests in the transaction.