Melita Marine Group

Melita Marine Group looks after large yachts from the moment they arrive in Malta to the day they sail away. Its Malta refit department handles everything from routine dry docking to major rebuilds, its engine company Melita Power Diesel services and supplies MTU and Detroit Diesel engines, and its agency team arranges berths, customs paperwork, fuel, provisions and travel for captains, owners and their guests.

The group began in 1989 with standard yachting services and has grown into an operation with bases in Malta, Spain and Greece. For a UK owner, captain or management company bringing a yacht into the central Mediterranean, it offers one point of contact for technical work and shore support.

From a small start in 1989 to three countries

Early success in Malta led to a planned expansion aimed at covering the full range of yachting services on the island: yard facilities, agency, charter, customs clearance, duty free supplies and bunkering. Melita Power Diesel followed in 1998 through the takeover of Marine Industrial Repairs, bringing engine repair, overhaul and reconditioning in house. A year later the group set up Melita Yacht Painters Ltd, an AWLGRIP painting specialist that started with a full time team of eight.

The group now works in Malta, at a shipyard in the Port of Tarragona in Spain, and from a workshop in Koropi near Athens. Most of its work involves large projects on vessels of roughly 24 to 100 metres, and it represents brands including MTU and Detroit engines under Rolls Royce Power Systems, Scania engines, Alfa Laval systems, AWLGRIP paints, Quantum stabiliser servicing and Propspeed.

The Spanish yard sits in the Port of Tarragona, next to the large Port Tarraco marina. Its travel lift hauls out yachts of up to 50 metres onto hard standing, while larger yachts of up to 100 metres can be worked on while berthed in the marina. It has the same range of engineering, electrical, steel, carpentry and upholstery workshops as Malta and can also carry out in-water work, which gives owners cruising the western Mediterranean a second option within the same group.

Awards listed by the group include MTU Distributor of the Year in 2012 and 2017, a UK yachting industry service award in 2002 and a Ferretti Group service award in 2008.

Refit, repair and dry docking in Malta

The Malta refit department draws on every part of the group, including Melita Power Diesel and Melita Yacht Painters, with dedicated project managers coordinating the work. Jobs range from annual out of water maintenance, known as dry docking, to large interventions such as main engine work, generator replacement, repainting, new teak decks and interior refurbishment, supported by an in-house drawing office. The team has also rebuilt or converted historic yachts, some dating back to the age of steam, into modern superyachts.

The Malta facilities can lift vessels of up to 5,000 tons and 110 metres in length out of the water, and the large yacht dock is among the biggest yachting docks in the Mediterranean. There is quay space for works afloat, the ability to carry out in-water repairs, and storage for tenders of any size. Workshops cover engineering, mechanics, electrics and electronics, steel, carpentry and upholstery.

More than 130 people are employed directly, including a yacht painting team, supported by an approved pool of local and international subcontractors. Qualified staff are on hand day and night, and the yard holds ISPS, ERA, ISO 14001 and ISO 18001 certification. Other yards and repairers are listed in our boat repair directory for Malta.

Workshops and specialist trades

Shipyard services cover superyachts from 30 to 140 metres. On the list are safety equipment servicing, marine electronics, hydraulics, painting and varnishing, carpentry including deck and hull planking, round the clock security, berthing afloat, hard standing with a travel hoist, soda, garnet and grit blasting, osmosis treatment, thermo tenting, scaffolding, life raft servicing, sail repairs, and upholstery and canopy work. Crew have toilets and showers available while the yacht is in the yard.

The electrical department designs, installs and maintains complete systems, repairs radar and communications equipment and wires new vessels. An HVAC team inspects and sterilises air handling units and ducting and can convert air conditioning systems to newer refrigerant gases, replacing compressors, valves and pipe insulation along the way.

In the plate shop, welders handle steel, stainless steel and aluminium work, from chassis and panel repairs to new railings, stanchions and staircases, and the same team designs and installs pipework in steel, aluminium and copper nickel, under classification society approval where required. A purchasing department sources spare parts to class standards, and engineer led project managers plan each job and track progress against time and budget.

General works cover the less glamorous jobs that keep a yacht healthy: cleaning galleys and engine rooms, flushing grey and black water systems, and descaling and sanitising pipework. When something fails unexpectedly, an emergency team can attend inside or outside the port, or send a riding squad abroad, to deal with electrical and mechanical faults, hydraulics, bridge electronics, steel and pipe repairs, propulsion and auxiliary machinery, tank cleaning and weld testing.

Melita Power Diesel and MTU engines

Melita Power Diesel has been the official MTU distributor in Malta since 1993, and it expanded into Libya in July 2013 and Greece in November 2017. In Greece it is the exclusive distributor for Rolls Royce Power Systems, MTU and Detroit Diesel engines, working from a 3,000 square metre workshop, store and office in the industrial park of Koropi, outside Athens.

Its engineers service, overhaul and repair engine room equipment of every kind, recondition parts such as bearings, oil pumps, rotors and turbochargers, supply new and reconditioned engines, and carry out repairs in or outside harbour. They also service outboard motors, repair hydraulics on bow thrusters, winches, gangways and cranes, and provide turnkey installation of marine and industrial machinery, with support overseas when a yacht cannot come to Malta.

Superyacht agency and shore support

The agency department works around the clock, every day of the week, for captains, owners and guests. Berths are hard to find on a small island, and the team uses its contacts at Malta's marinas to secure short, long or overnight stays once it has a yacht's length, beam and draft. You can compare other operators in our directory of marina services in Malta.

Customs clearance for EU and non-EU goods by air, sea and land is handled in house, along with freight forwarding, duty free bunkering arranged through local suppliers, worldwide chandlery orders bundled ready for arrival, provisioning, safety and medical equipment, and emergency repairs in Malta or abroad. A technical management team of former captains and engineers helps prepare for safety audits, class surveys and flag inspections.

Safety is covered too. The group supplies and services life rafts, life jackets, EPIRB distress beacons, search and rescue transponders, VHF radios and flares, provides medical equipment, and can arrange survival and medical training so that crew know how to use it. On board, it can organise catering, entertainment such as live music, private dinners and parties, and security services for owners and guests.

For guests ashore, the group books hotels, restaurants, flights, private jets, helicopters, car hire, guided tours and private excursions to places such as Valletta, Mdina, the Three Cities and Gozo. Our Valletta guide, Three Cities guide and Gozo guide give a flavour of what is on offer, and our guide to the Blue Lagoon covers one of the favourite anchorages.

Yacht charters and getting in touch

Melita Marine Group also arranges crewed charters of motor yachts, sailing yachts and superyachts around the Maltese Islands and Sicily, from a single day to longer trips, with professional captains and crew. For more ideas on and off the water, see our list of things to do in Malta, and if you are flying out to join a yacht, our page on flights to Malta covers routes from UK airports.

The head office is on the Bulebel Industrial Estate in Żejtun, in the south east of the island. To discuss a refit, dry docking, engine work, a berth or agency support, use the VisitMalta.co.uk enquiry form on this page, ideally with your vessel's name, length and the work you have in mind, and we will pass your message to Melita Marine Group, who will reply to you directly.