The rebuilding of the Marfa breakwater has been completed by Infrastructure Malta, with an investment of €2.1 million.

The Ministry for Transport, Infrastructure, and Public Works said that this breakwater goes back decades and was used to dock by the ferries that operated the journeys between Malta and Gozo until the port of Ċirkewwa was built in the mid-seventies. The Ministry said that the breakwater has suffered considerable damages caused by the elements over the years.

It said that it was confirmed through a structural survey that substantial parts of the breakwater’s structure were worn or totally broken, so the agency rebuilt the entire structure of the breakwater which includes the 85 metres long and 9 metres wide deck and the sea wall which protects it from the waves. The Ministry added that extensive repairs were also made in foundations at the bottom of the sea.

Minister for Transport, Infrastructure, and Public Works Chris Bonett said that this project is part of a larger project to restore breakwaters around Malta, including the breakwaters of Marsaxlokk and Marsascala along with Marfa. He said that these breakwaters serve both as a shelter against the elements and as a mooring for fishermen’s boats and those who provide transport between Malta and Comino.

The Head of the Maritime Section of Infrastructure Malta, Janice Borg, said that this project was necessary after the damages that the breakwater had suffered from the elements and the storms over the years. She continued that following extensive work ranging from rebuilding the breakwater foundations to setting up new lighting systems around the structure, this infrastructure can now be utilised by fishermen’s ferries again as well as passenger boats and anglers.

The project received funding from the European Maritime Affairs and Fisheries fund and included the installation of other security systems around the breakwater.