Final permits still awaited from the Sicilian authorities
The new ferry between Malta and Ragusa, Sicily will start operating in September, but the exact date has not been established yet as the operators wait for final permits from the Sicilian authorities.
The service was meant to start operating in late spring but was delayed because of permits issues.
The service will be run by a company owned by Paul Gauci, the local entrepreneur whose PG Group controls the Pavi and Pama supermarkets and the local branch of Spanish retailer Zara, among others.
In January 2023, Gauci acquired the Marina di Ragusa, one of Sicily’s largest marinas, in an undisclosed multi-million deal.
The Ragusa Xpress will use a catamaran that is no newcomer on Sicily trips, having been previously operated by the company it will be competing with, Virtu Ferries.
It can carry a maximum of 430 passengers and 21 cars and will take one hour and 45 minutes to cross between the Grand Harbour and Marina di Ragusa. Virtu had used the catamaran to evacuate people from Libya in 2011 and again in 2015 but then sold it to a German company, which used it to operate charter trips in the Caribbean.
It has now returned to Grand Harbour after being acquired by Gauci to operate the new ferry service.
The Ragusa Xpress will vie for passengers with Virtu Ferries’ long-standing ferry operation, which runs two trips a day between Malta and Pozzallo, in southern Sicily. Virtu Ferries uses much larger vessels that can carry twice as many passengers, more cars and commercial vehicles of up 19 metres in length.
Another contender for a slice of the Malta-Sicily ferry market, Ponte Ferries, proved to be short-lived. The company started operating in late 2021 but called it quits last year, following multiple problems.
https://timesofmalta.com/article/ragusa-xpress-ferry-start-maltasicily-service-september.1096015
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