Malta has no official trip-report or sail-plan service for leisure boats: nobody receives your plan or comes looking if you’re late. Transport Malta does require you to plan your passage, and VTS reporting is about traffic, not overdue boats. So the safety net is someone ashore who knows your plan. VesselSOS gives that person a live link, and texts them automatically if you don’t answer its “Are you OK?” after your return time.
Transport Malta requires mariners to plan their voyage or passage in full, from departure to destination, and to keep up-to-date charts (a chart-plotter or phone app counts). Nobody receives or monitors that plan. Reporting to Valletta VTS, Marsaxlokk VTS, Mġarr LPS and Malta VTS (run by the Armed Forces of Malta) is mandatory for vessels in territorial waters, but it’s traffic reporting, not an overdue alert. Schemes like the UK’s former RYA SafeTrx or New Zealand’s Coastguard trip reports have no Maltese equivalent.
Sources: Transport Malta, safety of navigation and its Notice to Mariners 05 of 2026, checked October 2026.
VesselSOS isn’t connected to the AFM, RCC Malta or Transport Malta, and it doesn’t file a plan with anyone. It gives the people you choose a live view of where you are, and the app puts a 112 call and your position on one screen. In a life-threatening emergency, call 112 or use VHF channel 16.
Not one we could find. Transport Malta requires a passage plan, but nobody receives or monitors it. Leave your plan and return time with someone ashore.
Transport Malta says participation with Valletta VTS, Marsaxlokk VTS, Malta VTS and Mġarr LPS is mandatory for all vessels, recreational craft included, and that vessels in territorial waters keep a listening watch on the allocated VHF channel. That’s traffic reporting, not an overdue alert.
RYA SafeTrx was a UK service and closed on 31 December 2025. It never covered Maltese waters.
It’s in beta on iPhone (TestFlight) now, with Android later. The SOS screen is free; tracking and the return-time check are part of Pro (2.99 € a month or 19.99 € a year, with a 14-day free trial). See the plans.