The Malta-Gozo ferries registered a sharp increase in passenger and vehicle traffic during the first quarter of 2007, the National Statistics Office said yesterday.

771,961 passengers used the ferries to cross from one island to the other, resulting in an increase of 15.1 per cent over the same quarter last year.

The total number of passenger vehicles carried by the ferries increased by 14.5 per cent to 210,814 over the corresponding quarter in 2006.

In the quarter under review, 4,523 trips were made between Malta and Gozo, representing an increase of 4.9 per cent over the same quarter in 2006. The mv Malita carried 332,691 passengers or 46.7 per cent of the total passengers in this quarter. The other two Gozo Channel ferries, mv Ta’ Pinu and mv Gaudos, carried 207,087 and 172,184 passengers respectively.