The new catamaran Maria Dolores, originally due for delivery in the middle of this year, will be delivered by the builders, Austal Ship, to Virtu Ferries in January 2006.

Virtu Ferries and Austal Ship confirm that the delay in delivery is due to shortage of labour in Western Australia. The Maria Dolores is being built at the Austal shipyard in Fremantle and is presently afloat awaiting sea trials scheduled for the first week of November, a Virtu Ferries statement said.

The Maria Dolores conforms to IMO-International Maritime Organisation codes, EU, Malta Flag State and Italian Port State regulations and has been designed for the Malta-Sicily-Reggio Calabria route. The vessel will carry 600 passengers in two lounges, one Club Class, 65 cars/campers and 10 trucks/TIR/coaches. The vessel has a cruising speed of 36 knots; crossings to Pozzallo will be 90 minutes, Catania three hours and Reggio Calabria four hours and 30 minutes. A year round scheduled service is being planned which will best serve Maltese industries. Costs of imports and exports will be reduced as a direct result of reduction in delivery time.

Virtu are currently in contact with major European touring clubs with a view to attracting the growing camper and car travelling market. The significant increase in economical family car travel since the introduction of the high speed car ferry M/V San Gwann in 2001 is expected to receive a further boost. Maltese-owned coach companies are looking at the opportunity of expanding operations abroad which will reduce the cost of group travel originating in Malta. Local tour operators have welcomed this convenient new form of travel.

Additional on-board facilities include shops, catering and recreational areas.

The Maria Dolores is registered under the Malta Flag with Det Norske Veritas classification and is scheduled to commence service in February 2006.

Virtu Ferries is 100 per cent Maltese owned with a management team, including the maritime technical department, entirely Maltese. The company operates two vessels, the San Frangisk and San Pawl, previously on the Malta-Sicily route, in the north Adriatic via a subsidiary company, Venezia Lines Spa. The service connects the Italian ports of Venice, Rimini, Trieste and Ravenna with seven ports in Slovenia and Croatia carrying 85,000 passengers annually, or 40 per cent of the ferry passenger market in the region.