Gozo Channel delays were not due to bad weather, PN claims

Updated 6pm 

Gozo Channel passengers were left stranded at Mġarr Harbour on Friday because vessels were operating at half capacity due to insufficient staff, the Nationalist Party has claimed.

In a statement on Saturday, the Opposition party said Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri had tried to “insult people’s intelligence” by blaming inclement weather for the delays.

The government later reiterated that the fast ferry service was suspended because of inclement weather, while the operating ferry service had to change route and sail from behind Comino.

Earlier, the PN claimed “vessels were not operating at full passenger capacity because an insufficient number of seafarers had been allocated, contrary to established practice,” PN MP and Gozo spokesperson Chris Said claimed.

Fellow Gozitan and PN candidate Beppe Galea made a similar claim, saying ships designed to carry 900 passengers were capped at a maximum of 500 due to staffing issues. 

Thousands of people found themselves waiting for a Gozo Channel ferry for hours in Gozo on Friday evening. The Gozo fast ferry to and from Valletta was cancelled due to high winds.

Gozo Channel chairman Joe Cordina said the company was trying to accommodate foot passengers who were unable to catch the fast ferry.

PN MP Said thanked Gozo Channel workers, police officers and Transport Malta officials who worked to manage the “chaotic situation” that developed at the port.

“With an incompetent Minister, Gozo Channel employees, the Police and Transport Malta were left trying to cope with the chaos created by the Minister’s mismanagement of the Gozo Channel company,” the MP said.

“It is pointless for the Minister for Gozo to attempt to justify what happened by blaming the weather, as though this were the first time strong winds had led to the suspension of the Fast Ferry service or forced Gozo Channel vessels to sail via the route behind Comino,” Said added.

He noted that the PN has pledged to invest in a new and modern fleet of vessels for the Gozo Channel. That includes a “proper fourth vessel — something the Labour Government has never delivered, having instead preferred to spend thousands of euro every day on the MV Nikolaos to lease a second-rate vessel,” he said.

Fellow PN candidate Galea said that while bad weather cannot be avoided, Gozitans and Gozo Channel passengers were being made to suffer a mediocre service “one month after another”. 

“This is not quality tourism. This is not making Gozo a priority. This is a sign of incompetent, rudderless management,” Galea said, writing on social media.