Plans to find strategic partner for profitable Tug Malta

Tug Malta has posted a pre-tax profit of Lm671,217 for the financial year ending September 2005, overturning a pre-tax loss in the preceding year of Lm21,467.

During a press conference yesterday to discuss Tug Malta's performance, Investments Minister Austin Gatt said that a call for international tenders will be issued in the coming months to attract a strategic investor for Tug Malta.

He said the government wanted Tug Malta to find a strategic investor experienced in the tug business so that the company would expand into international offshore tug work, salvage services and towing in international ports.

During the last budget speech, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi had announced the government's intention to privatise Tug Malta. Dr Gatt said the government intended to retain a minority shareholding in the company.

He said restructuring in Tug Malta had proved successful as losses were turned into profits. Apart from this, the company was in such a sound financial situation it had no need to resort to bank guarantees from the government to invest in new tug boats.

Dr Gatt said the restructuring process had to continue and among measures that needed to be taken was the need to reduce the number of crew on each tug boat from five to four. The management was having talks with the workers' union over the matter. The revised manning levels are scheduled to come into force when a tug boat ordered by the company is delivered.

Dr Gatt confirmed what Tug Malta chairman John E. Sullivan had stated, namely that the reduced manning levels would be reached through natural wastage such as retirement, in order to avoid redundancies.