A government call for tenders for the lease of a ferry for Gozo Channel operations has not drawn any response, Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri confirmed on Monday.

He was replying to a parliamentary question by Nationalist MP Chris Said.

The minister said that “there was no interest in this call” but indicated a fresh call may be issued.

The call for tenders opened on February 16 and had an April 2 deadline.

The government is seeking a ro-ro vessel able to operate between Ċirkewwa and Mġarr.  Any such vessel would replace the unpopular Greek-flagged MV Nikolaos — a vessel built more than 30 years ago and chartered in 2019.

PN MPs Alex Borg and Ivan Castillo had raised concerns about the call for tenders last month. Borg described it as “a tender set to fail”.

The Nationalist Party has claimed that the MV Nikolaos is costing the government €14,000 per day in rental and staff costs, excluding fuel.

Earlier this month the Gozo minister said in reply to another parliamentary question that the government was planning to issue a call for tender by the middle of the year for the building of a new ferry.

“I have asked the company to prepare a call for tenders to build a new ferry to Gozo Channel specifications by the middle of this year,” the Gozo Minister told  Nationalist MP Toni Bezzina, Ivan Castillo and Alex Borg.

Gozo Channel also has another three ferries, built in Malta to its specifications. 

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