Sea crossings between Malta and Gozo saw an increase in passengers and vehicles but registered a decrease in trips when compared to the same quarter in 2022, new data published by the National Statistics Office has found. 

Between January and March of this year, some 1,254,008 passengers were ferried across the channel in 8,742 trips. March was the busiest month of that period, accounting for 40 per cent of the total trips made in the first quarter. 

A total of 1,181,389 passengers travelled between Mġarr and Ċirkewwa during the first quarter of 2023, an increase of 22.8 per cent when compared to the corresponding quarter of 2022.

March accounted for 37.9 per cent of the total number of passengers for the quarter and the total number of vehicles ferried rose by 8.2 per cent to a total of 439,784.

A total of 7,888 trips were made during the first quarter, registering a 0.1 per cent increase to those recorded in the same period in 2022. 

Passenger traffic from Ċirkewwa was busiest on Fridays and Saturdays while vehicle traffic was highest on Fridays and Thursdays.

From the Mġarr terminal, both passenger and vehicle traffic was highest on Sundays and Mondays. 

Some 72,619 passengers crossed to Gozo from Valletta using the fast ferry in 854 trips between January and March this year. This saw the number of trips decrease by 43.8 per cent while the number of passengers increased by 8 per cent. 

March registered the highest number of trips – 480 or 56.2 per cent of total trips for the quarter – and also the highest number of passengers – 36,585 or 50.4 per cent for the quarter.