A total of 618,760 passengers used the Malta-Gozo ferries to cross from one island to the other in the first quarter of 2006 – a decrease of 7,238 passengers or 1.2 per cent over the same quarter the year before.

The total number of passenger vehicles carried by the ferries increased by 3,815 to 184,172 an increase of 2.1 per cent over the corresponding quarter in 2005.

In the quarter under review, 4,310 trips were made between Malta and Gozo – an increase of 72 or 1.7 per cent over the same quarter the year before.

The MV Malita carried 276,824 passengers or 44.7 per cent of the total passengers in this quarter.

The other two Gozo Channel ferries, MV Ta’ Pinu and MV Gaudos carried 188,160 and 153,776 passengers respectively.