Ponte Ferries, the company operating the ferry service between Augusta, Italy and Malta, will not continue the service, according to the Italian news site www.siracusanews.it.

According to the report, Ponte Ferries wrote to the Eastern Sicily Port Authority to request the revocation of the concession for the ro-ro pier at the commercial port in Augusta. The service had been suspended already in September for the winter break.

The site said that the decision by Ponte Ferries comes after the company faced legal challenges from a competitor who opposed the use of the port by Ponte Ferries. The article quotes Francesco Di Sarcina, president of the Eastern Sicilian Maritime Port Authority as saying that "For their own reasons, they could not continue with the service and therefore asked us to revoke the concession." It also quotes him as saying that once the administrative paperwork is completed and the closure acts are finalized, the authority will decide what to do with that area.