Ernest Sullivan, managing director of Malta Motorways of the Sea and CEO of Sullivan Maritime Ltd, welcomed guests to the annual Grimaldi Group summer event held at the Hilton Quarterdeck.

Sullivan introduced Dr Eugenio Grimaldi, Line manager Italy-Malta Short Sea Services of Grimaldi Group who addressed the clients, service providers and local authorities. The Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Capital Projects, Dr Ian Borg as well as Mario Sammartino, Italian Ambassador to Malta, were among the distinguished guests.

The Grimaldi Group is focused on creating a shared value for the communities in which it operates, while reducing environmental impact and operating in a sustainable way. This is attainable through the development of long, stable and positive relationships with the Group's partners. Developing and implementing innovative projects contributes to the improvement of the transport sector as a whole. Increasing the capacity of the ships means responding to market needs.

Malta Motorways of the Sea/Grimaldi Group are very proud to have served the Maltese maritime industry and the country's economy for 14 years through their EU - Regular Liner Shipping service that is backed by a fleet of modern Ro-Ro vessels that guarantee a Just in time service all year round. The Grimaldi Group registered an incredible growth of more than 50% in volumes during the last five years.

MMOS/Grimaldi Group offer very competitive freight rates and the highest quality of maritime services to/from Malta through the network of Short Sea Shipping Services and weekly maritime connections with daily service from/to Genoa, Livorno, Salerno, Catania, Brindisi and Ravenna, among several other ports.

The Grimaldi Group has recently undertaken a massive investment programme in retrofits for their vessels, such works are granting the Group a yearly saving of almost one million tons of CO2, with re-blading intervention on 38 vessels and five vessels have benefited from Re-bulb works.

In addition to the aforementioned retrofitting programme, the Grimaldi Group has also invested in new buildings. From May 2020 the Grimaldi Group will take delivery of 12 giant hybrid-RoRo vessels, equipped with large Lithium-ion batteries to guarantee zero emissions in port.

Apart from the great advantage of the zero emissions in port, these new vessels will also have double the load capacity of the existing vessels in service taking in over 500 trailer units. This will result in the maximization of the economy of scale where vessels will double their revenue intake while maintaining running costs.

The Group exceeded a turnover of €3bn in 2018. An incredible result achieved thanks to their long-term investments, their corporate belief in Together we are better and ultimately as a result of the continued support and trust from their clients and local operators.