Drivers crossing the Gozo channel will no longer be allowed to spend the journey in their cars after a rule that has been in place for decades is finally being enforced.

Following an investigation by the Ombudsman, crew members have been ordered to ensure “that no passengers remain in their vehicles once the vessel is ready to depart”.

Crew members have this week been sending drivers and passengers up to the decks above when previously the rule was only sporadically enforced.

The Ombudsman, Judge Joseph Zammit McKeon, investigated the issue after receiving a “pressing concern” about the health impact of vehicles idling on the ferry during the 30-minute crossing.

His office did not release the subsequent report but, on Thursday, it noted that Gozo Channel had implemented a series of recommendations.

Toxic fumes released from the fire would make the air unbreathable. It would also be extremely difficult for any rescuers, wearing breathing apparatus, to locate any passengers in such conditions- Gozo Channel

Contacted for comment, Gozo Channel chairman Joe Cordina said the company had “stepped up efforts to enforce the rule” following the probe.

For years, hundreds of drivers – especially frequent travellers – opted to remain in the car for the short trip between the islands, and some even took it as an opportunity for a quick nap in the early morning hours or late at night.

In a statement issued on Monday, however, the company said if a vehicle were to catch fire in the garage, the poor visibility would make it “next to impossible to evacuate the space”.

“Toxic fumes released from the fire would make the air unbreathable,” it said. “It would also be extremely difficult for any rescuers, wearing breathing apparatus, to locate any passengers in such conditions.”

Drivers urged to deactivate car alarms

In a separate investigation, the Ombudsman concluded that car alarms were disturbing immobile patients in ambulances or hospital buses who are crossing the channel for treatment.

It also urged drivers to deactivate their car alarms when leaving the vehicle, as the ship’s motion often sets multiple alarms off at the same time, “creating an unpleasant atmosphere, audible even by passengers on the upper decks”.

This is not the first time vehicles on Gozo Channel ferries raised concern. In 2018, Times of Malta reported how crew members had begun to wear air-purifying masks, with sources saying they suspected the vessels’ extractors were not coping with the daily influx of thousands of vehicles moving in and out of the ferries.

Two of the three Gozo Channel ferries built in Malta more than two decades ago can carry around 160 cars at full capacity during each trip using two raised floors while the other one can carry around 90 cars at one go.

Each of them can carry up to 900 passengers in total with a complement of 15 crew members during each trip.