'Royal' visitor graces Grand Harbour

The majestic QE2 berthed in Grand Harbour early yesterday morning and departed for Gibraltar by late afternoon.

With as many as 1,750 passengers on board, mostly British, the cruise liner graced the Valletta Waterfront, replacing another stunning vessel, Voyager of the Sea, which left on Wednesday.

Referring to the Voyager of the Sea's delayed departure from Grand Harbour, due to the fact that a number of boats and yachts had to move out of the way first, the senior officer at Viset Malta plc's Operations Department, Charles Duncan, said the company has pointed out this occurrence to the Malta Maritime Authority, responsible for ship movements in Grand Harbour, to take remedial action and avoid such situations.

"It is always very unfortunate when situations like these arise. Viset Malta plc, as operators of the cruise liner terminal, has every interest to see that cruise liners are serviced with the best treatment to make sure their operations run smoothly," Mr Duncan said.