Manoel Island development forces closure of three yacht yards

The situation for the yachting community has deteriorated, with the sudden and forced closing down of three yacht yards used for boat storage on Manoel Island, which the Malta Sailing Federation has described as "outrageous".

The yacht yards, Stephen's Boat Care, Trader Marine Yacht Services Ltd and A & J Baldacchino Boat Yard, have been "muscled out of business" by the Manoel Island developers, the MIDI consortium, according to the federation's vice-president, Paul Ellul.

They have been prevented from accepting boats in their yards, creating major problems not only for the yard owners, but also for Maltese and foreign boat owners. The yards are almost empty although development has not yet started.

Access to the sea from one of the yards has been cordoned off and the yard owners are being pushed to clear out trailers and cradles, with nowhere to put them.

Yacht owners who need to lift their boats out of the water are facing closed doors: they are finding that Malta's two remaining yards, which provide the required facilities, are booked up.

Of five yacht yards on the island, only two are left - one on Manoel Island and another in Kalkara. Meanwhile, the number of boats and pontoons is increasing, while facilities for boat storage in winter is shrinking.

Mr Ellul said the situation was already tight with the three yacht yards on Manoel Island, some of which have been established for 12 years.

Over the last decade, the boating industry has exploded, with the number of boats increasing "almost tenfold," Mr Ellul said.

A total of around 200 berths at the Ta' Xbiex and Msida quays 10 years ago has grown to 600, with another 120 at Portomaso, and around 100 at Manoel Island. Next year would see the creation of even more pontoons at Cottonera, while others were planned for Manoel Island. The major projects in the pipeline for the yachting industry would serve to exacerbate the existing problem, Mr Ellul said.

The situation was a "disaster" for the sailing community and a matter of national concern, he argued.

While the federation, which represents Malta's sailing community, appreciated that the developers, the MIDI consortium, had legally acquired Manoel Island and would be turning the land occupied by the yards into residential properties, it was concerned about the government's "total lack of planning" to provide Malta's sailing community with an alternative site for hardstanding.

"It is like having an airport without a runway," Mr Ellul stressed.

"It is simply a case of common sense. Provide yachts with pontoons and you also have to provide adequate hardstanding to dry out the hulls of those yachts that use the same pontoons."

Referring to the recent inauguration of two more pontoons on Manoel Island, the federation questioned where the pontoon users would be storing their yachts for the three months of winter, although it said that the provision of berthing facilities of international standards was a step in the right direction.

Fibreglass boats need to be lifted out of the water for not less than three months to allow the hull to dry. Failure to do so would result in the development of serious and costly damage, known as osmosis, Mr Ellul explained. Once the condition sets in, the hull is no longer considered to be seaworthy and the boat is deemed worthless.

If the authorities did not understand what was required to cater for the specialised yacht services trade, they would only be facilitating the situation for other Mediterranean countries.

The boat industry generated hundreds of thousands of liri for the economy, but if no storage space were available, the money would be lost to other countries. Boat owners paid between Lm400 and Lm600 to keep their boats on the hard and for anti-fouling for about 13 weeks a year. But, they were already considering taking their boats to Tunisia and Sicily, Mr Ellul said. Services and maintenance contracts were being lost to yards overseas.

Last week alone, Stephen's Boat Care managing director Stephen Micallef had to turn down six foreigners.

"It is one thing turning down a Maltese boat owner because you can always call him back, but a foreign client is lost forever," he said, adding that he would soon be unemployed.

His yard was leased from Medserv Ltd and he never expected to be able to stay forever. The issue was about being given an alternative site.

The federation had brought the issue to the attention of the Planning Authority as far back as 1999 when it pointed out that should MIDI go ahead with its plans to develop Manoel Island, the problem of hardstanding boat storage would be a major concern for the boating community.

In 1999, the federation had pointed out that the PA's figure - 7,000 square metres - for the area used by the yacht yards on Manoel Island was "grossly incorrect". According to the federation's calculations, the area occupied by the yards amounted to almost 14,000 square metres and the demand would certainly not decrease once the Manoel Island development took off.

"Our plight was ignored and we have reached an outrageous situation, which has gone from bad to worse."

The MFS is appealing to the authorities to discuss the matter with yacht yard operators and owners to come up with a long-term solution. Thousands of metres of quayside along Grand Harbour could easily accommodate the requirements, it suggested.

Yacht yards have to be located by the sea as it is not feasible for yachts, with tall masts and deep keels, and 40-foot motor boats, with fly bridges - the common size in Malta - to be transported overland.