A group of Maltese, led by author and diver Mark Gatt, will be staging a symbolic public protest tomorrow with the arrival of a cruise ship carrying 700 people that will be stopping in Malta as part of its Mediterranean tour retracing the route of St Paul.

The organisers are urging those attending to ensure they are outside Pinto Wharf at the Valletta Waterfront, near the Bank of Valletta, at 8am. The aim of the protest is to hand out free copies of last week’s Malta Independent on Sunday which published an article on the subject by Mr Gatt to passengers disembarking from the cruise liner.

“This is a peaceful symbolic protest and it is not my intention to make these passengers feel threatened or unwelcome,” Mr Gatt says.

“I need all the support I can muster, so if you cherish our rich heritage, please attend and show your support. Since I am indicating in black and white why this theory does not hold water, wearing a white T-shirt and black cap will make the protest more symbolic. Your presence is more important than what colour clothing you are wearing, but wearing these colours will also match our banner and placards.”

With the shipwreck of St Paul holding a special place in the Maltese tradition and psyche, Mr Gatt is challenging recent claims by American researcher Bob Cornuke, who claims that St Paul was shipwrecked in the vicinity of St Thomas Bay in Marsascala rather than in Salini Bay.

Mr Gatt disputes Cornuke’s Munxar reef theory does not hold water, and he also explains how many Maltese are beginning to adhere to the controversial theory following a DVD issued by Mr Cornuke’s BASE Institute and the accompanying publicity on YouTube and elsewhere.

“The idea of this protest is to make people aware of how false this theory is and to not allow it to become a tradition,” Mr Gatt explains.

He adds: “Unfortunately, one of the hosts of this tour (which traverses the Mediterranean in the footsteps of St Paul) is espousing a baseless theory that does not hold up under close scholarly examination. The same is also true of Mr Cornuke’s other claims: Noah’s Ark in Iran, the Ark of the Covenant in Ethiopia, the ‘real’ Mount Sinai in Saudi Arabia, and the Israelite crossing of the Red Sea at the Gulf of Aqaba.

“All these fantastic ‘discoveries’ have no credible evidence to back them up and they have already been refuted by scholars.”