Workers were this morning putting the final touches to the new spill-over berth for cruise liners at Senglea point, which will receive its first ship this afternoon.
The commissioning of the transformed Boiler Wharf comes on a day when the NSO announced that cruise passenger traffic in Malta continued to drop last month.
It said 55,183 passengers arrived in July, a drop of 16,351 passengers over the corresponding month in 2008. Embarkations from and landings in Malta stood at 2,436 and 2,466 persons respectively.
Arrivals have been in decline for all of this year. Visitors between January and July totalled 190,698, a decrease of 29.4 percent over the comparative period last year.
Passengers from EU countries accounted for 70.8 percent of total traffic, the main markets being Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom.
A significant drop was registered in the Spanish and Italian markets. On the other hand, cruise passengers coming from non-EU countries registered a decrease of 5.5 percent, with the American market representing 61.8 percent of the non-EU incoming passengers.
On a gender basis, female passengers exceeded male ones by 10.2 per cent. The largest proportion of passengers - 33.2 percent - comprised persons aged between 40 and 59, followed by those in the 60 to 79 age bracket, who accounted for 31.6 per cent of the total.
Boiler Wharf, which has not been included in the privatisation of Malta Shipyards, is being operated by the Malta Maritime Authority. It has been given a thorough clean-up and resurfacing. New lighting and security procedures have been introduced.
Four cruise ships are visiting Malta today, the MSC Splendida, the Aida Diva, the Bleu de France and the Aegean Pearl, which will berth in Senglea.
Infrastructure Minister Austin Gatt said during a tour of the quay this morning that the project had cost €566,000. He said the project will be extended through development of facilities for tourists in Senglea. A disused building will also be turned into an industrial museum showing 19th century tools and equipment.