5.2 Sea Transport
This chapter focuses on regional land and sea transport statistics. The first section deals with road transport statistics covering rate of motorization, stock of licensed vehicles, road traffic accidents and contraventions. The section related to sea transport statistics starts with information on fishing vessels and concludes with inter-island statistics on passenger and vehicle movements aboard trips operated by Gozo Channel Co. Ltd and the fast ferry service.
Salient Points
Stock of fishing vessels: 2024
… stock of fishing vessels stood at 2,746 with MPVs comprising the largest proportion, 43.8 per cent. The largest share of fishing vessels was registered in the South Eastern district, 28.0 per cent. Fishing vessels registered in the Gozo and Comino district amounted to 21.8 per cent.
Sea transport between Malta and Gozo: 2024
… passengers and vehicles travelling between Malta and Gozo increased by 15.0 and 5.2 per cent respectively when compared to 2023.
… passenger traffic originating from Ċirkewwa was busiest on Fridays and Saturdays, whereas highest numbers from Mġarr were recorded on Sundays and Saturdays.
… August registered the highest number of trips between Mġarr and Valletta – 977 or 10.6 per cent of total trips between Mġarr and Valletta for 2024 – and the highest number of passengers between Mġarr and Valletta – 120,220 or 12.3 per cent of total passengers between Mġarr and Valletta for 2024.
Charts
European Statistical Monitor
Tourism and Transport Analytics Dashboard
Ready
5.2.1 Distribution of passengers by type of transport between Malta and Gozo
Reference year: 2024
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Mġarr-Ċirkewwa Route
Mġarr-Ċirkewwa
Ċirkewwa-Mġarr
Mġarr-Valletta Route
Mġarr-Valletta
Valletta-Mġarr
5.2.2a Scheduled sea transport by day of week and year
Number of ferry trips by day of week (2019-2024)
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5.2.2b Vehicle crossings between Mġarr and Ċirkewwa by day of the week, terminal and year
Vehicle transport volumes by day of week (2019-2024)
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5.2.2c Passenger movements between Mġarr and Ċirkewwa by day of the week, terminal and year
Passenger transport volumes by day of week (2019-2024)
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Tables
Maps
5.2.1. Distribution of trips between Malta and Gozo
Reference year: 2024
Methodological Notes
Fishing vessels
1. The data regarding fishing vessels is supplied by the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture.
2. Definitions of fishing vessels:
i. As stated in SL 425.07 – Fishing Vessels Regulations
MFA – Professional Fishing Vessels – Full-time
MFB – Professional Fishing Vessels – Part-time
MFC – Non-Commercial Fishing Vessels i.e. recreational
ii. As stated in the report entitled “The Maltese Fishing Industry – year 2000” drafted by Michael Darmanin, Senior Fisheries Officer,
Luzzu – The most traditional fishing vessel. It is pointed at both ends, and is painted in folkloristic bright colours.
Kajjik – Differs from the luzzu in being generally smaller (average length 4.6 metres) and being flat ended at the stern. Previously, they were made of wood, but in recent years, fibre-glass has been the hull material of choice.
iii. As stated from “The Fishing Industry in Malta Past-Present-Future” – Stanley Farrugia Randon
Firilla – Almost identical in design to the luzzu but, the bulwark (tappiera) is secured to the outside of the kontrarota. The stem posts found at each end of this boat are also much higher than those of the luzzu and it has a wider appearance.
Bimbu – Has a stern resembling that of a lanca while its bow resembles that of a luzzu.
Trawler – A fishing trawler, also known as a dragger, is a commercial fishing vessel designed to operate fishing trawls. Trawling is a method of fishing that involves actively dragging or pulling a trawl through the water behind one or more trawlers.
Frejgatina – A common term referring to a small boat which in shape is similar to a kajjik or luzzu.
MPV – Multi Purpose Vessel is a seagoing ship that is built for the carriage of a wide range of cargoes.
Auxiliary Vessel – An Auxiliary Vessel is a vessel that is designed to operate in a number of roles supporting other vessels. Their roles may include replenishment, transport, repair, harbour, research and others.
Other – Any vessel that is not listed above including dinghies, longliners, recreational fishing vessels, seiners, ‘lanċa’ and ‘skuna’.
Sea Transport between Malta and Gozo regions
3. The source of the data included in this publication is administrative information provided by the Gozo Channel Co. Ltd. and Transport Malta.
4. The fast ferry service operating between Mġarr and Valletta commenced on 1 June 2021.
5. The table below illustrates the passenger and vehicle capacity of each Gozo Channel vessel:
| Carrying capacity 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 and 08/11/2023-30/11/2023.
MV Malita: 09/01/2019-31/01/2019, 06/02/2019-13/02/2019, 07/03/2019-08/03/2019, 25/11/2019-02/12/2019, 06/01/2022-10/02/2022 and 09/01/2024-30/01/2024.
MV Ta’ Pinu: 06/01/2020-10/02/2020, 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 27/04/2020-02/07/2020, 25/04/2022-29/05/2022, 18/04/2023-26/04/2023 and 15/02/2024-25/03/2024.
6. The table below illustrates the passenger capacity of each fast ferry service vessel:
| Carrying capacity vessel | Passengers |
|---|---|
| Your Wisdom (Gozo Fast Ferry Ltd.) | 296 |
| Your Faith (Gozo Fast Ferry Ltd.) | 296 |
| San Pawl (Virtu Ferries Ltd.) | 316 |
| San Franġisk (Virtu Ferries Ltd.) | 316 |
7. 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, only foot passengers are included.
8. Different approaches to data collection are being applied at the Mġarr and Ċirkewwa Harbours with regards to the Gozo Channel service. While the data source for the Mġarr side is the Automated Ticketing System (ATS), data for the Ċirkewwa side is dependent on the manual clicking system.
9. The two service providers (Gozo Fast Ferry and Virtu Ferries) have merged as of Q3/2024 and are providing service under one company, namely Gozo High Speed.
