Fancy getting married at sea? 1,303 couples just did so

Marriage statistics tabled in Parliament show 1,303 couples chose to tie the knot on board a sea craft or cruise liner while four couples opted for a civil union instead of marriage

Getting married on a cruise liner or boat was a popular thing to do last year
Getting married on a cruise liner or boat was a popular thing to do last year

There were 1,303 couples who got married on a boat or cruise liner last year, according to information tabled in Parliament by the Prime Minister.

No further details were given and it remains unclear whether these marriages formed part of the 2,552 marriages recorded by the public registry last year.

The Prime Minister was answering a series of questions by Labour Party Whip Byron Camilleri on marriages and civil unions.

Camilleri also asked how many marriages were between same-sex couples but was informed that since the introduction of marriage equality in 2017, the public registry did not keep data on gender.

Marriage equality was introduced on 1 September 2017 and ensured that same-sex couples could get married just like different-sex couples. Prior to this development, Malta had introduced civil unions in 2014, enabling both same-sex and different-sex couples to join in a bond similar to marriage.

According to the figures tabled this evening, there were four couples in 2018 that opted for a civil union rather than marriage. Three of these were same-sex couples.