New Gozo ferry service will help island 'thrive' - Gozo Business Chamber
Organisation says improved maritime links signal untapped potential
Updated 6.25pm
Several organisations on Thursday welcomed the introduction of a new ferry service between Gozo, St Paul's Bay and Sliema with the Gozo Business Chamber saying it will help island "continue to thrive".
In a statement, the Chamber said that this new service, coupled with the “much -needed” fast ferry launched in recent years, “highlights the fact that enhanced accessibility is key to ensure that islands such as Gozo continue to thrive”.
On Wednesday, Transport Minister Chris Bonett announced that the government has issued a call for tender for a new ferry service connecting Sliema to Gozo via Buġibba with reduced fares for Gozo residents. The year-round service is expected to start “between the middle and end of August”.
“When Gozo is given its due importance, it can become a key contributor on a national level,” the GBC said.
The Chamber added that the introduction of further maritime services shows the untapped potential for further routes including dedicated routes, services and incentives for commercial vehicles.
This should fall within a “much wider strategic vision” incorporating the current infrastructure and management of the port facilities in both Mġarr and Ċirkewwa.
While welcoming the news as being beneficial for the island's tourist sector, Gozo Tourism Association on Thursday called on the government to give "top priority" to enlarging Mġarr Harbour as the new service would be adding pressure on the current facilities.
The Malta Maritime Forum welcomed the shift to waterborne traffic saying it was part of the solution towards decarbonisation and traffic congestion.
The forum has previously recommended the introduction of a Ro-Ro service to transport cargo between the Malta Freeport and the Grand Harbour to the Port of Mġarr in Gozo possibly with a stopover in the north of Malta.
Although precise statistics on commercial traffic between Malta and Gozo are not readily available, MMF CEO Kevin Borg said a Ro-Ro service would "prove sustainable whilst alleviating lines of heavy vehicles from main arterial roads particularly in the North of Malta."
Borg added that sea tranport pollutes less than road transportation with ships generating 0.04kgs of CO2 per tonne mile compared to the 0.218kgs of CO2 per tonne mile typically generated by trucks.