Although the Grimaldi Group recently purchased the MV Maltese Falcon, one of the ships that belonged to the now defunct Sea Malta, this vessel will not be operating on the Italy-Malta route but on the Italy-Spain route, Malta Motorways of the Sea Line and Shipping manager Herman Tol said yesterday.
Mr Tol told reporters that the inclusion of the Civitavecchia port in the route’s itinerary would open up new opportunities for local trade and industry as well as an increased frequency.
Sullivan Maritime managing director Ernest Sullivan said the new schedule operated by Grimaldi from Genoa to Valletta through Catania was an extremely exciting development for trade and industry in Malta.He said that while Sea Malta had offered an excellent service in the past to Reggio Calabria, everyone felt that this was “static” and needed to be upgraded.
“Grimaldi has seen the need for this change and local industry now has the opportunity to expand into new areas of service which had not been previously possible. The fact that there are added trips during the week alongside the weekend schedule, further expands trading opportunities.”
Questioned by The Malta Independent on the volumes expected from and to Malta with the added capacity now available, Mr Sullivan said it would definitely have not been economically viable to ship from Genoa directly to Malta and vice versa. He said that the inclusion of Catania and Civitavecchia now made it possible for cargo going from Malta to Genoa and vice versa thus creating a destination that had not been previously possible.
When asked about the purchase of the MV Maltese Falcon, Mr Sullivan confirmed that for reasons of speed, the vessel would not be used for the Genoa-Malta connection but would only be used for Italy-Spain routes. He explained that it was now possible for Maltese cargo to go directly to Spain with the motorway of the sea concept also fitting in perfectly with EU environmental regulations.
With regard to the condition of the MV Maltese Falcon, Mr Sullivan said that Grimaldi’s experts had certified that the vessel was in relatively good condition even though it was at least 27 years old. He also said that he believed that the vessel’s true value had been ‘achieved’ with the price paid for it.
In a statement, the Investment, Industry and IT Ministry said the initial quote for the MV Maltese Falcon’s price by Barry Rogliano Salles in August 2004 had put the vessel’s value at e4 million ($4.79 million). However, the ministry said that on 15 June 2005, a new quote ordered by the former Sea Malta chairman had increased its value to e5.5 million or $6.5 million.
MIIIT said this new development had thrown the whole privatisation process into question with Grimaldi then commissioning four separate quotes as follows:
On 18 July 2005, Clarkson Italy’s quote at $4.5 to 5 million;
On 19 July 2005, Nolarma srl Italy’s quote at $5 million;
On 29 July 2005, Associated Shipbroking sam (Monaco) said the vessel was valued at $4.8 million to $5.2 million;
On 2 August 2005, Rocca & Partners srl (Italia) quoted a figure of $4.75 million.
The ministry said that a further quote was commissioned by Sea Malta on 15 September 2005 with Tecnitas (France) saying the Maltese Falcon was valued at between $4.8 million to $5.1 million. It said the agreement between Atlantica spa and the government had been for the vessel to be sold at the price of $5.25 million but the deal fell through and Sea Malta was liquidated.
MIIIT said the vessel was sold at the price of Lm1.75 million or $5.2 million which was more or less the exact price offered by Atlantica during the negotiations. It said that this shows that the valuation was at least $1.3 million lower than the only exceptionally high quote made in 2004.