Cruise liners were expected to make more than 400 calls at Malta this year, bringing some 300,000 tourists, Transport Minister Censu Galea yesterday told President Guido de Marco, who was visiting the Malta Maritime Authority offices.
Mr Galea said Malta was also becoming known as a port of call, with liners starting and finishing their cruises here.
Prof. de Marco, whose visit follows regular meetings with the minister and MMA chairman Marc Bonello, said the aim of such visits was for the country to focus its attention on a particular, important, social and economic aspect of the country's life.
Such visits also provided him with access to the workers of the place he was visiting, he said.
Mr Galea said Malta was fourth in the list of countries with the highest tonnage registration of vessels and the authority had always worked hard to ensure safety: more inspectors had been employed with the authority in the past month.
The minister said the authority was also investing Lm13 million at the Cirkewwa and Mgarr quays, from where three million people and 750,000 vehicles crossed between Malta and Gozo each year.
The President called MMA's achievements impressive. That Malta was the country with the fourth highest tonnage of vessels registered, he said, meant that its flag was convenient for one to have, but it was not a flag of convenience.
Being registered in Malta offered certain advantages but Malta's was a serious system which adopted measures to ensure that ships registered here were in order. Malta's flag was a guarantee of seriousness and the number of inspections by MMA inspectors were on the rise.
The President also spoke about the yacht marinas under development and said these were of benefit to the Maltese economy. Cottonera's, he said, would be among the most beautiful in the world.
Foreigners, the President said, were always amazed at how Malta, a country without natural resources and with a population of only 400,000, managed to enjoy such a standard of living. This was because "we live by our wits," he said.
Dr Bonello said this year was the 10th anniversary of the authority, which had grown and expanded over the years. Its registered tonnage had increased from nine million 10 years ago to 29 million now.
This represented a big responsibility on the authority's shoulders. The authority was investing in informatics and in its inspectorate to ensure that conventions and regulations were adhered to.
The authority was also instrumental in other port activities such as cruise lining and bunkering. This success was the fruit of much work.
Prof. de Marco also went on board the Pullmantur Cruises liner Blue Dream (local agents Mondial Holidays).
The Blue Dream carries 690 passengers and all its facilities are of a superior five-star standard. The vessel's first cruise under Pullmantur left Barcelona on June 3, reaching Malta on June 5. The ship now calls on a weekly basis.
President de Marco expressed his satisfaction at the agreement reached between all the social partners on the essential services clause in the bill amending the conditions of employment and the industrial relations acts.