Sea Malta set to be privatised

The government yesterday took a decisive step towards selling Sea Malta to Atlantica S.p.a. di Navigazione - a company forming part of the Italian Grimaldi Group - with the signing of a memorandum of understanding on the transfer of shares.

The government owns 57 per cent of the national shipping line.

It said in a statement that the selection and negotiation process was conducted by the Privatisation Unit following an open international request for proposals.

On June 3, a shareholders' extraordinary general meeting gave directors the go-ahead to prepare an information memorandum that would include commercially sensitive data disclosed only to strategic investors.

The memorandum of understanding includes provisions on confidentiality that preclude either party from giving any further details at this stage.

Contacted yesterday, Sea Malta chairman Marlene Mizzi said the government had the right to sell its shares as any other shareholder.

She said the board of directors was doing its duty to ensure that the company's interests were safeguarded with the transfer of shares, but added the board was not involved in the privatisation process as such.

The official press statement said the government would be consulting the General Workers' Union and the Federation of Industry shortly.

Sea Malta is considered to be a lifeline to Maltese industry, both when it comes to importing raw materials for manufacturing and for exporting finished products.

The company was set up in 1973 to provide liner services to the local manufacturing and trading sectors.

Its vessels, the MV Maltese Falcon and the MV Zebbug, operate weekly to the ports of Genoa, Marseilles, Tunis, Livorno and Salerno as well as making three calls a week to Reggio Calabria and twice a week to Catania.

The FOI said last week the government should guarantee that the shipping line's public service obligations are honoured even if it fell into the hands of private owners.

The government has so far committed itself to keeping a public service obligation agreement to subsidise unprofitable routes under an agreement with Sea Malta that expires in 2010.

Opposition Leader Alfred Sant has accused the government of trying to sell off Sea Malta cheaply, or failing that, wanting to close it down on the excuse that it is not viable after years of neglect. He has called for an inquiry into how the government has "purposely" allowed Sea Malta to deteriorate.

The government accuses Dr Sant of wanting to weaken efforts to sell the shipping line in the best public interest.