New 600-passenger catamaran arrives from Australia

Virtù Ferries' brand new catamaran, the mv Maria Dolores, arrived in Malta yesterday after a long voyage from Fremantle in Western Australia where it was built.

The vessel will be inaugurated by the Prime Minister on March 28 and will be open to visitors on April 2, before entering service to Pozzallo, Catania and Reggio Calabria.

The Maria Dolores can ferry 600 passengers and 65 vehicles including 10 trucks/TIR/coaches. It was delivered by shipbuilders Austal Ship to Virtù Ferries earlier this year.

It is now berthed at the passenger terminal at the Valletta Waterfront.The Maltese registered vessel, which had been designed for the Malta-Sicily-Reggio Calabria route has a cruising speed of 36 knots.

Crossings to Pozzallo will take 90 minutes, to Catania three hours and to Reggio Calabria four-and-a-half hours. A year-round scheduled service is being planned.

Virtù Ferries is seeking to attract major European touring clubs to bring over to Malta camper and car travellers.

Set up in 1988, Virtù Ferries is a wholly owned Maltese company and also operates the San Frangisk and San Pawl catamarans connecting the Italian ports of Venice, Rimini, Trieste and Ravenna with seven ports in Slovenia and Croatia.