The fourth Gozo ferry will be reintroduced in service at the end of the month after having been taken out of service amid a drop in traffic caused by Covid-19 restrictions.
Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri made the announcement on Monday when replying to a parliamentary question from Opposition MP Chris Said.
The MV Nikolaus - which was chartered last summer from a Greek company by Gozo Channel – was pulled out of service last April.
Camilleri also confirmed that temperature screening of passengers before boarding Gozo ferries has been stopped.
He said the decision was taken on the basis of advice that the situation no longer warranted such screening.
A positive weekend in #Gozo - Gozo Tourism Association reports a 90%+ occupancy rate in accommodation establishments. @MaltaGov @RobertAbela_MT @Clint_Camilleri @MTAMalta @VisitMalta @VisitGozo @Ronald_Mizzi pic.twitter.com/eKSciv7ZTX
— Julia Farrugia Portelli (@JuliaFarrugia) June 1, 2020
However, Camilleri pointed out that some restrictions such as running the ferry service at half capacity, are still in place.
As for the MV Nikolaus he said this would be returning to service as from June 29.
This is part of government’s strategy to encourage internal tourism, even for the Maltese to take a holiday during the week,” the Gozo Minister said.
He added that traffic was picking up while describing the number of people who crossed to Gozo last weekend as “good”.
The Ministry of Tourism in a statement later said hotels and restaurants in Gozo had seen a busy weekend, the former reporting 90 per cent occupancy in some cases.
Tourism Minister Julia Farrugia Portelli visited a number of establishments with Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri.
"We said that we wanted a summer, and we started with internal tourism," Farrugia Portelli said.