TM to spend €1,500 a day to lease RHIBs as new boats remain unusable

The transport regulator plans to lease three RHIBS for €1,500 a day this summer, as its maritime enforcement section has run out of boats.

Despite spending almost €1 million in 2020 to purchase five brand new RHIBs for its maritime enforcement section, the vessels have remained unused due to structural problems found soon after their delivery.

So far, Transport Malta and the police have taken no action over possible wrongdoing in evaluating and adjudicating the expensive 2020 tender.

Sources confirmed that Kurt Farrugia, the regulator’s CEO, has decided to issue a new call with Minister Chris Bonett’s approval so that the Authority can lease three RHIBS to enforce maritime rules during summer.

While the Authority has known for a long time that it was unable to enforce any rules due to the lack of boats, as the purchased RHIBs have been out of service for a long time, the call was only made at the last minute, avoiding the publication of a proper tender.

Transport Malta sources informed The Shift that it had just issued a call for quotations, a less transparent process under public procurement rules. It is asking suppliers to provide it with the best quote to hire the requested RHIBs for 90 days.

According to the document, seen by The Shift, Transport Malta is planning to spend at least €135,000 on the lease of the RHIBs and possibly extend the lease contract further.

Last summer, Transport Malta told The Shift that it had passed an internal investigation report on the 2020 RHIBS tender to the police for possible criminal action. No charges were presented in court.

Transport Malta’s conclusions were identical to those investigated by the National Audit Office (NAO), which had flagged several irregularities, including the lack of internal controls in the acquisition, managed entirely by one Transport Malta official.

The NAO had not named the Transport Malta official involved in deciding on the €1 million tender, which was found to have been concluded in just one day.

Soon after the NAO and the internal Transport Malta findings, the regulator removed Patrick Pollacco, the head of the maritime enforcement unit at the time.