Malta Maritime Authority needs dynamic leadership

The Malta Maritime Authority was set up on my insistence and initiative when I was Parliamentary Secretary for Offshore Activities and Maritime Affairs between 1987 and 1992 because I felt that the maritime sector needs a dynamic and body which takes quick decisions and which cannot wait for the bureaucratic engine of governments.

A lot of hard work had gone in its preparation and launching, and a lot was achieved both in the field of ship registration, which we started from scratch, as well as in the planning and implementation of marinas, and the planning and extension of cruise liner wharves, etc.

Since then, one very important aspect has unjustifiably been left in abeyance - the completion of the upgraded infrastructure to ensure that Malta becomes an indispensable home port for cruise liners plying the Mediterranean, thereby making it an essential hub.

In 1988, as minister, I attended the first Cruise Liner Conference in Miami and had important meetings with Carnival, Royal Caribbean and other major American cruise liner companies.

The trend and message at the conference was loud and clear. The Americans were tired of sun and sandy beaches of the Caribbean; they were looking forward to the cultural cruises of the Mediterranean. It was stated that the second half of the Nineties and the first decade of the 21st century would bring an influx of cruise liners to ply the whole of the Med, the cradle of civilization

As a result, we had decided, as early as 1988, to clear the deep-water quay for cruise liners and to shift all cargo and container ships to Ras Hanzir until the Freeport became fully operative and could start taking on all containers destined for the domestic market. We extended the quays and constructed new quays up to Customs House.

All the wharves from the deep-water quay to the Customs House were earmarked for conversion for use by cruise liners, enabling six large cruise liners to moor by the quay at any one time.

The two huge and ugly huts at the deep water quay, which were built in the Fifties to store bulk cargo, had to be dismantled to clear and upgrade the wharves for cruise liners, and the area close to the silo was cleared ready for tarmacing. These two huts are always empty as loose and bulk cargo nowadays is infinitesimal compared to 90 per cent of all containerised cargo.

We had co-ordinated with Air Malta and had talks with El Al to try to set up direct flights from New York with a stopover in Malta to enable entrepreneurs to organise the fly-cruise operations, using Malta as a home port for Mediterranean cruises and beyond.

We had commissioned an architect to prepare plans to convert the Pinto Stores into an imposing and internally modernised passenger terminal. Plans were produced and finalised. The demolished part of the stores had to be reconstructed in style, thereby joining the two existing sides of Pinto Stores.

The architect presented two possibilities of access to the Terminal from the wharves: either leave the road as is and erect two lifts on the existing quay communicating them to the terminal by a bridge, or make the existing road in front of the stores part of the quay and have the road run behind Pinto Stores. In fact a road already exists.

Nevertheless ten years have passed and we are still without a passenger terminal, without developing and incorporating the deepwater quay to the cruise passenger quay. And with two huge ugly sheds that only serve as breeding ground for pigeons and rats, with a huge open space behind the silo, which had been cleared for development but never developed.

The Malta Maritime Authority should waste no more time in removing the two sheds and to upgrade this quay for cruise passengers. One can build a small shed on Coal Wharf near the Sea Malta terminal or at Ras Hanzir to meet any potential need for some space for any bulk cargo that may be imported.

With our strategic geographical location, with an upgraded and updated infrastructure, with our efficient means of communications, with excellent hotels and a history and culture which is the envy of several Mediterranean states, Malta has lost and is still losing too much precious time to be converted and promoted as a hub for Mediterranean cruises.

Even in the expansion of our marinas, nothing has been done since the opening of the Msida yacht marina. There were plans to convert Marsamxett Harbour into an immense yacht marina that would take 5,000 yachts. It would have been unique and the largest marina in the Med with a historical and cultural backdrop of the Valletta bastions and the close commercial amenities of Sliema, Gzira, Msida and Valletta. A floating breakwater would have rendered the harbour safe at any time.

Unfortunately the development of the Vittoriosa Marina will ensure that several galleons below six metres of silt, which were identified by the Mary Rose Trust, will remain buried for good without the possibility of ever being salvaged. Even so, ten years have been wasted without creating additional sought after berths to meet the demand of the yachting community in the Mediterranean.

As soon as I was appointed Parliamentary Secretary responsible for Maritime Affairs I held consultations with Greek legal consultants to find out what was missing in our legislation, which did not attract registration of ships. The Maritime Act was amended to better safeguard bank mortgages as well as ship owner rights.

With an amended law in place, which suited the market, we launched a campaign of seminars in Greece to inform the shipping community of what Malta could offer. Our consul in Greece proved extremely helpful in targeting specific ship-owners with whom we had direct talks. As a result in just three years ship registration shot up from 1.8 million tons to 12 million tons by the time I left the ministry.

This sector was further successfully developed by the Malta Maritime Authority, which I had set up, and now Malta has close to 28 million tons of registered shipping placing our register, a register of world repute and the fourth largest ship register in the World.

There are other maritime areas which need care and development. The threat of erosion of some of our sandy beaches has to be attended to without further delay. Mellieha Bay was identified by experts over ten years ago that it would disappear in a matter of few decades. The street that has cut off the beach from the valley has ensured that there is no natural sand replenishment of the beach.

Similarly, Marsalforn, Balluta and Spinola beaches are in the process of disappearing - fast. We had, at that time, brought Israeli experts to help us create and develop new sandy beaches in the north where there are only rocks. They prepared reports but unfortunately each new minister forgets what had been prepared by his predecessor and starts anew, if he starts at all, wasting in the meantime all the energy resources and money spent by the administration.

In this modern, small world, with fast IT systems of communication, the Maritime Authority should ensure constant upgrading, dynamism and innovation if it is to succeed in a highly competitive field where time and service of excellence are of essence. If we do not want to lag behind and lose whatever has been achieved there is no space for lethargy at the top echelons, they have to be constantly monitoring, motivating and implementing progress.

I am worried also that the authority is not recruiting and training new staff to replace the ones that leave or retire at any time. Lino Vassallo, Jonathan Pace will soon leave the Authority, one due to retirement and the other for a better job. The Authority should not wait for a crisis to plan and constantly organise, upgrade and invest in specialised humane resource.