News Releases

Sea transport between Malta and Gozo: Q2/2023
NR125/2023
Release Date: 18 July 2023
Malta
  • During the second quarter of 2023, the total number of trips, vehicles and passengers increased by 7.9, 4.0 and 16.6 per cent respectively when compared to the corresponding quarter of 2022.
  • During April-June 2023, vehicle traffic originating from Ċirkewwa was busiest on Fridays and Saturdays. At the Mġarr terminal, vehicle traffic was highest on Sundays and Mondays.
  • During April-June 2023, passenger traffic originating from Ċirkewwa was busiest on Saturdays and Fridays. At the Mġarr terminal, passenger traffic was busiest on Sundays and Saturdays.
  • June registered the highest number of trips between Mġarr and Valletta – 924 or 41.0 per cent of total trips for the quarter – and also the highest number of passengers – 75,749 or 41.4 per cent for the quarter.
Sea transport between Malta and Gozo: Q2/2023
NR125/2023
Release Date: 18 July 2023
During the second quarter of 2023, sea transport between Malta and Gozo registered increases in passengers, vehicles and trips when compared to the corresponding quarter of 2022.

Sea transport between Malta and Gozo

Between April and June 2023, a total of 11,159 trips were carried out, carrying a total of 1,724,703 passengers (Table 1). June was the busiest month recording a total of 3,904 trips or 35.0 per cent of total trips for the quarter (Tables 3 and 7).

Sea transport between Mġarr and Ċirkewwa

A total of 1,541,916 passengers travelled between Mġarr and Ċirkewwa during the second quarter of 2023, an increase of 14.0 per cent when compared to the corresponding quarter of 2022. The highest number of passengers was recorded in April – 528,924 or 34.3 per cent of the total for the quarter. When compared to the previous year, the number of vehicles increased by 4.0 per cent, totalling 518,198 (Tables 2 and 3).

The number of trips during the second quarter amounted to 8,905, an increase of 2.7 per cent over the same period in 2022 (Table 2). May registered the highest number of trips – 3,069 or 34.5 per cent of total trips for the quarter (Table 3).

During April-June 2023, passenger traffic originating from Ċirkewwa was busiest on Saturdays and Fridays, while vehicle traffic originating from Ċirkewwa was busiest on Fridays and Saturdays. On the other hand, from the Mġarr terminal, passenger traffic was busiest on Sundays and Saturdays, while vehicle traffic was highest on Sundays and Mondays (Charts 4 and 5).

Chart 1. Passengers and vehicles crossing between Malta and Gozo

No Data Found

Sea transport between Mġarr and Valletta

During the second quarter of 2023, a total of 2,254 trips were carried out carrying a total of 182,787 passengers (Table 6). When compared to same quarter in 2022, the number of trips increased by 35.5 per cent and the number passengers increased by 44.6 per cent. June registered the highest number of trips – 924 or 41.0 per cent of total trips for the quarter – and also the highest number of passengers – 75,749 or 41.4 per cent for the quarter (Table 7).

Map 1. Distribution of trips between Malta and Gozo during Q2/2023

Map_Q2_2023

Chart 2a. Distribution of passengers by type of transport

between Malta and Gozo during Q2/2023

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Chart 2b. Distribution of passengers by type of transport

between Malta and Gozo during Q2/2023

No Data Found

Chart 3. Passengers and vehicles to and from Mġarr and Ċirkewwa

No Data Found

Chart 4a. Vehicles to and from Mġarr by day of the week

April-June

No Data Found

Chart 4b. Vehicles to and from Ċirkewwa by day of the week

April-June

No Data Found

Chart 5a. Passengers to and from Mġarr by day of the week

April-June

No Data Found

Chart 5b. Passengers to and from Ċirkewwa by day of the week

April-June

No Data Found

Methodological Notes

1. The source of the data included in this release is administrative information provided by the Gozo Channel Co. Ltd and Transport Malta.

2. The fast ferry service operating between Mġarr and Valletta commenced on 1 June 2021.

3. The table below illustrates the vehicle and passenger capacity of each Gozo Channel vessel:

Vessel Vehicles Passengers
MV Gaudos 72 900
MV Malita 138 900
MV Ta' Pinu 138 900
MV Nikolaos 160 650 (Summer)/ 350 (Winter)

Periods when vessels were out of service for docking purposes:

MV Gaudos: 04/01/2021-11/02/2021.
MV Malita: 06/01/2022-10/02/2022.
MV Ta’ Pinu: 09/01/2023-02/02/2023 and 27/02/2023-02/03/2023.
MV Nikolaos started operating on 13/06/2019.
MV Nikolaos was put temporarily out of service between 25/04/2022-29/05/2022 and 18/04/2023-26/04/2023.

4. The table below illustrates the passenger capacity of each fast ferry service vessel:

Vessel Passengers
Your Wisdom (Gozo Fast Ferry Ltd) 296
Your Faith (Gozo Fast Ferry Ltd) 296
Gozo Express (Virtu Ferries Ltd)* 308
San Franġisk (Virtu Ferries Ltd) 316

*The fast ferry service vessel, Gozo Express (Virtu Ferries Ltd) replaced San Pawl (Virtu Ferries Ltd) on 17/05/2022.

5. Data for passengers travelling between Mġarr and Ċirkewwa comprises of foot and vehicle passengers and vehicle drivers. The fast ferry service does not allow for the transport of vehicles thus, only foot passengers are included.

6. Different approaches to data collection are being applied at the Mġarr and Ċirkewwa harbours with regards to the Gozo Channel service. Data source for the Mġarr side includes Automated Ticketing System (ATS), while data for the Ċirkewwa side is dependent on the manual clicking system.

7. The data is not normally subject to revision.

8. References to this news release are to be cited appropriately.

9. More information relating to this news release is available in the Sources and Methods.

10. Statistics in this News Release should be interpreted in the context of the COVID-19 situation.

11. A detailed news release calendar is available online.

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