The new Virtu Ferries ship, MV Maria Dolores was inaugurated by Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi in a short ceremony at the Sea Passenger Terminal in Valletta yesterday evening.

Virtu Ferries managing director Francis Portelli said the company had been operating on the Malta-Sicily route for 18 years.

“Times have changed, concepts have changed, demands and requirements have changed, and indeed technology has changed. The Maria Dolores is built specifically for this route with these changes and advances foremost in mind,” he said.

Mr Portelli said that to be successful a new vessel, operating on a specific route, has to satisfy many criteria, such as speed, passenger comfort, rapid turn around and a schedule compatible with the needs of the industries and people of the countries it services.

This has to be achieved with safety at sea as the main goal... and this is the company’s main goal, he said.

“The International Maritime Organisation and the European Maritime Safety Agency (with whom we are very proud to have an association in the field of response to oil pollution at sea) lays down stringent safety regulations. We conform to all of them as well as recommendations which will in the course of time become regulations,” Mr Portelli added.

The vessel can accommodate 600 passengers in three separate lounges, two for tourists and one club class and a total of 65 vehicles including 10 trucks or coaches. It conforms to 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 Maria Dolores has a cruising speed of 36 knots, which means that it will take 90 minutes to cross over to Pozzallo, three hours to get to Catania and approximately four and a half hours to arrive at Reggio Calabria.

The new vessel will enable its owners Virtu Ferries to provide a year round scheduled service. Import and export costs for Maltese industries are being considerably reduced as a direct result of reduction in delivery time.

Virtu Ferries was established in 1988 to provide a high-speed sea passenger, day return service between Malta and Sicily, initially with a chartered vessel. The company took delivery of the first new vessel ACC San Frangisk in 1990 (Builders Ulstein Norway); the vessel carries 306 passengers.

HH Pope John Paul II travelled on the San Frangisk between Malta and Gozo and when he was welcomed in Grand Harbour during his pastoral visit in 1990. A sister vessel, ACC San Pawl, was purchased in 1997.

In 1999, the company started a high-speed car/passenger service between Malta and Sicily deploying a chartered vessel. In 2001 it took delivery of MV San Gwann; a car/passenger high-speed craft, carrying 417 passengers and 22 cars.