Virtu Ferries is currently offering a daily ferry service between Malta and Italy. There are now discussions on a regular passenger ferry between Malta and Libya. In August this year, one of the catamaran ferries was chartered by a Korean company to evacuate their employees in Libya. Since then discussions about a regular connection between the two countries have been progressing.
In the initial meeting it was discussed to start a commercial service using the high-speed passenger catamaran. The smaller catamaran, that was also used for the evacuation in August, takes around 6 to 8 hours for the whole journey.
The last time that there was a catamaran service between Tripoli and Malta was in the 1990s. These operated during the UN Lockerbie sanctions. At this time the ferries took 12 hours for the whole journey, and they were able to carry passengers and cars.
There are also discussions about ferry services to other major cities in Africa, such as Tunis and Alexandria. However, there are apparently obstacles that include a high insurance premium for Tripoli that is set by international companies.
Passenger ferry connections to Malta
At the moment Malta’s ferry network is only connected with Italy. It is possible to get a direct ferry connections to Genoa, Salerno and Sicily (Pozzallo, Palermo, Catania). It would be a great addition to this network if Malta was also connected to Africa. If the new ferry route to Tripoli gets established, it will only be a passenger ferry in the beginning. It will probably be just a matter of time before the ferry will also be able to transport commercial goods and cars as well, depending on the popularity and demand of this connection.
Malta’s accessibility in Europe is generally very good. The Malta International Airport offers easy and frequent access to and from the island and many budget airlines are available. The ferry connection to Sicily has been very popular with people visiting the island and going shopping, and commercial services importing goods from Sicily to Malta.
This new development can also be very attractive for companies who thinking about settling their business in Malta.
