Gozo Channel, the state company running ferry crossings between the two islands, is paying its employees some €7,500 each in overtime every year, despite hiring 150 extra contractors to fill operational roles.

Figures published by Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri in parliament following a request by Nationalist Party MP Chris Said show that despite millions of euro paid by Gozo Channel to hire additional staff through contractors, this is still not enough to run its daily operations.

According to the latest figures, the state entity, registering massive losses every year and kept afloat only through state subsidies, has spent €2.7 million in overtime for its 180 fixed employees between 2022 and 2023.

This equates to over €113,000 in extra overtime costs every month.

The Shift previously reported that through various contracts, most of them given through direct orders, Gozo Channel is hiring an additional 150 employees to cover most of its operations, including operating the vessels, security, cleaners, bar attendants, and more.

These already mounting costs exclude the €10,000 a day for the leasing of its fourth ship in its fleet, the MV Nikolaus, which comes with its own crew as part of the leasing package, also through a direct order.

According to the latest published accounts, the government subsidised Gozo Chanel to the tune of some €10 million in 2022 to keep it afloat.

According to a Public Service Obligation contract, which expired in 2017, Gozo Channel was meant to receive subsidies of not more than a million euro every year.

While the government has been postponing the issue of a new PSO tender since 2017 and has just amended it temporarily to reflect the expenses related to the additional MV Nikolaus, Camilleri last week announced that the company will unveil a “new vision” later this year without giving any further details.