Updated 8.32pm
Thousands of people heading to Malta from Mġarr, Gozo faced extensively long queues on Friday evening after the fast ferry was suspended and the Gozo Channel boat was rerouted behind Comino due to high winds.
Speaking to Times of Malta, Gozo Channel executive chairman Joe Cordina said “one of the ferries is not working and we are doing our best to make up for this problem”.
Photos sent to the newsroom show hundreds of passengers patiently queueing along the entire length of the terminal stretching back by quite some distance.
The long queue stretched far back down the terminal quay.One passenger described how the waiting hall was full. “I am stuck in Gozo. It’s windy and cold and the queue is not moving. I have been waiting for over 90 minutes, since 7pm,” the man told Times of Malta.
He added that the Nikolaus ferry had since arrived, but only managed to take on board the people in the waiting hall. “Outside the queue hardly moved and now the queue has stopped moving.”
One passenger described how the waiting hall was full and passengers were queueing in the wind and cold.Meanwhile the mayor of Għajnsielem, Kevin Cauchi, warned drivers to “avoid” the town centre “due to gridlock that has developed after the ferry started operating from behind Comino. Fast ferry service has also stopped resulting in queues in Mġarr terminal.”
Numerous cars with their engines switched off could be seen snaking all the way down the Għajnsielem hill to the terminal.
Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri said he was in touch with all authorities concerned “to ensure the situation progresses in the best way possible” after a crowd of thousands ammassed at the terminal.
Earlier this week, the gridlock was on the other side of the channel as hundreds clogged the road leading to Ċirkewwa on their way to spending the New Year’s break in Gozo.
Tuesday’s traffice congestion left one man in hospital after he was trapped between two cars.