A 35-year-old Greek vessel that Gozo Channel has been leasing for the last three years at a reported cost of €13,000 a day can now only carry half the passengers it was commissioned to transport due to safety concerns.

The MV Nikolaus, leased to Gozo Channel by direct order, has a capacity of some 700 passengers,  but Transport Malta inspectors have slashed this to a maximum of 350 passengers while the vessel is crossing between Malta and Gozo.

The vessel, leased since 2019 when Justyne Caruana was Gozo Minister, was acquired from a small Piraeus-based shipping company that operates ferry crossings between ports in Corfu and other small Greek islands.

Questions were raised when the vessel was acquired because it was already more than three decades old.

The recent decision by Transport Malta officials means the ship will make even less financial sense for Gozo Channel since the daily expense and running costs will be the same whether the vessel is operating at full or half capacity.

The Shift sent questions to Transport Malta spokesperson Daniel Balzan asking about the passenger count and whether it made sense to retain the MV Nikolaus, especially in the winter months and after the launch of the fast ferry service to Gozo, offering another option to those travelling across the islands.

Gozo Channel sources told The Shift that it seemed the government had not asked for a re-negotiation of the lease.

The government has resisted calls to publish the contract for the lease signed with the owners of the Greek vessel, turning down several Freedom of Information requests by The Shift.

Gozo Channel is running at a loss and is subsidised by taxpayers. It has been used and abused by those in government, burdening it with unnecessary employees as favours granted by ministers to constituents or through direct orders and contracts dished out to private entities providing services to the company.

Beyond that, since Labour candidate Joe Cordina has been at the helm, the company has embarked on a spending spree through the lease of a building in Mgarr, at significant cost to the company even though it cannot be used because it requires work before it can be converted into company offices.

The Shift revealed that this lease – the former Ta’ Miema supermarket – is owned by clients of Joe Cordina’s private auditing consultancy.

Meanwhile, the European Commission is also closing an eye to the fact that a Public Service Obligation contract that elapsed in 2017 has been pending without a new call.

The contract, used to pump state subsidies to Gozo Channel, was supposed to be issued five years ago. After the government’s attempt to give the lucrative contract to friends was stopped by the court, no new tender has been issued.

Although the European Commission has been putting pressure on the government to act, no infringement procedures have been started.