Twelve bids have been submitted for three yacht marina facilities that the government plans to privatise.

An adjudicating committee will be appointed soon to sift through the bids for the Msida and Ta' Xbiex yachting centres, and the marina in Mġarr, Gozo.

The successful bidder will have to upgrade the marina facilities and infrastructure within two years, including fittings to quay walls, pontoons, moorings, water and electricity installations, access control gates, firefighting equipment, chains and shackles.

The marina facilities will also have to be run in compliance with local regulatory and international standards, including environment protection, security and occupational health and safety.

The facilities will have to be developed and managed in a way that ensures long-term sustainability within the yachting services market.

The bidder has to commit to a berthing fee structure for a period of five years. At the end of the 25-year concession period the facilities will return to the Malta Maritime Authority.

When Finance Minister Tonio Fenech announced the privatisation process, he said the government believed the yachting sector could significantly benefit from the involvement of the private sector, which had always been better at making use of assets.