Malta Freeport working near full capacity

The Malta Freeport is working practically to full capacity, with 13 of its 14 cranes in operation round the clock, shifting some 3,300 containers daily.

The workload, confirmed by a Freeport spokesman, is that high for a variety of reasons, ranging from the reputation the Malta Freeport has built as a safe port where containers are never tampered with or go missing, to the efficiency with which it is running.

Sources said the pilfering rate at other freeports in the south of Italy, which are in direct competition with the Malta Freeport, is rather high.

The workload is also higher than usual because ships from more than one shipping line that normally go to Gioia Tauro, the Malta Freeport's foremost competitor in Italy, have been using the Malta facility instead because of congestion at Gioia Tauro.

A ship from the Lykes shipping line, that normally goes to Gioia Tauro, yesterday called at Malta Freeport. Lykes shipping line is in the CP group and sends several ships to the Malta Freeport but the one that called yesterday normally works on the Gioia Tauro route. A strike expected in Spanish ports this week is also expected to bring more work here.

The spokesman said that although several ships were calling on "spot call basis" - calling once without having any contractual commitment - the Malta Freeport was working to have them on a permanent basis.

The Malta Freeport was in contact with shipping lines to try to attract them, to replace the Yang Ming line, whose last ship is due in mid-May. The Yang Ming shipping line recently decided to suspend transshipment operations in the Mediterranean and would be introducing direct calls to different ports instead.

One of the issues bedevilling the Freeport management is public holidays. On such days, because of port regulations, port workers do not work and the Freeport has to curtail most of its operations.

The Malta Freeport does not operate on Good Friday, on March 31, May 1, on Christmas and the New Year. Ports in competition with it operate throughout the year, the sources said.

"The issue is compounded when, as happened this year, the Freeport had to suspend its operations for two days because of bad weather. Then there was Good Friday and this week there is the May 1 holiday. This stoppage creates a sudden backlog that has to be cleared. It is not easy to clear a backlog when working at full capacity," the spokesman said.

"The issue has to be addressed with the Malta Maritime Authority so that regulations would be changed.

"A solution has to be found with the port workers as there is no problem with the Freeport workers about the matter. Their collective agreement stipulates that they would be paid extra when working on public holidays," the spokesman said.