With the mandatory non-essential travel ban between Mata and Gozo lifted, the number of passengers using Gozo Channel is bound to increase. Measures to safeguard the health of passengers and crew alike remain unknown.

For five weeks, non-essential travel between Malta and Gozo was prohibited, a measure introduced to contain SARS-COV 2, the virus which causes COVID 19. The virus is mainly transmitted through droplets and can be transmitted even by those who are asymptomatic. 

On Monday 4 May, the ban was lifted, and normal operations technically resumed. However, Both Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Health Chris Fearne, and the Superintendent of Public Health, Prof. Charmaine Gauci, explained that the number of passengers on board the vessel at one go is to be restricted. As to what amount and how this will play out, we do not know.

A source from the company Gozo Channel told us that during the ban on non-essential travel, vessels were running at a capacity of 500 passengers manned by 11 crew members. The vessels are certified to carry 900 passengers and 138 cars and are manned by 15 crew members. 

Demand during this time was low, with an average of 140 passengers making use of the ferry on each trip. Overcrowding was not an issue, and keeping social distance was possible. But with numbers set to increase, keeping social distance will be a challenge. Nevertheless, at the time of writing, those operating the vessels had not yet received any guidelines or instructions from the company or Public Health authorities. 

Sources told us that it would be preferable if those travelling with their vehicle remained in their car for the duration of the trip. Fewer passengers would be making use of the passenger deck, reducing the risk of getting into contact with anyone who may be living with the virus. With the deck space limited because of the fixed tables, stationery and bar, this would sound sensible. 

However, those passengers who remain in their vehicle during the crossing would be contravening company requirements, as well as national and international law. Gozo Channel’s vessels are “passenger ship[s] with ro-ro cargo spaces or special category spaces...” 

EU Directive 2009/45/EC states that “...without the express consent of the master or the designated officer, no passengers are allowed access to an enclosed ro-ro deck when the ship is under way.” This Directive was transposed into our national law, and its requirements made mandatory.

The law we have just referred to is not new. It was introduced in the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) back in 1988 as a response to the catastrophic capsizing of the passenger/car ferry Herald of Free Enterprise.

Will sea masters or crew that allow or even encourage passengers to stay in their vehicle when the vessel is underway be accomplices to breaking the law? On the one hand, they would be protecting passengers from possible exposure to the virus, but on the other would be exposing them to other dangers.

Those sitting in their vehicles will naturally expect to be allowed to keep their engines running throughout the journey, releasing substantial Carbon monoxide (CO) in an enclosed space. The masks which filter CO are not practical in the setting we are writing about, exposing crew members to higher amounts of a toxic pollutant which, if inhaled, causes fatigue, headaches, dizziness and nausea.  In large amounts, it can also cause death. 

Crew members are also not rotated to work with the same crew members day in, day out. This means that if one crew member tests positive for SARS-COV2, tracing their contact would be more problematic than if they were working with the same group of people.

Service users are also in the dark. With reduced numbers allowed on board, a reduced schedule and an increase in demand, long queues are expected. There are also no measures to ascertain that persons who consider travelling between the two islands as essential (work, visiting members of the family, or medical reasons) are given priority. 

We acknowledge that we are living unprecedented times and that risk assessment is being carried out all the time. Nevertheless, having no guidelines or measures in place, written and available for all to read and consult, is unacceptable. Careful planning and transparency are essential, now more than ever.

Dr Mark Josef Rapa holds a Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Malta and Master of Laws degree in Health Care Ethics and Law from the University of Manchester. Mark Josef works as a Research Assistant at the School of Social Sciences at the University of Manchester.