Enya Jakobsen and her father Rune Jakobsen on the Valletta-Sliema ferry. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

Six-year-old Enya Jakobsen gives a shy smile as she stands with her father Rune on the top deck of the ferry boat as it docks at the Sliema Strand.

It’s 8am and they quickly disembark, walking briskly up to Cathedral Street to St Joseph’s School where Enya makes it in time for assembly.

In fact, her school run is slightly different to those of other children as, together with her father, she catches the 7.45am ferry from Marsamxett in Valletta and in less than 10 minutes is in Sliema.

The Jakobsens live in Valletta and bypass the heavy morning traffic, which has exacerbated since schools started again one month ago.

“It’s really quite straightforward – there was one day last week when the wind was too strong and I took Enya to school by car. It took us almost 40 minutes to get there and we arrived at around 8.10am,” Mr Jakobsen said.

Coincidentally, a new catamaran, TopCat One, started working last week. With a capacity of 160 passengers, it is replacing the current ferry that can take only 90 passengers to Valletta from Sliema and back.

He welcomed the new service, saying that sometimes the old one would not go out in rough weather because it was too dangerous. Albeit short, the journey is quiet quality time for the two. “It’s a nice break and I get to spend time with my daughter. It’s a breath of fresh air and the scenery is always changing,” he said.

He admitted his daughter was not too pleased with the idea when they started doing their school run with the ferry last year. “In the beginning she wanted to be like all the other kids and take the van”.

In the beginning she wanted to be like the other kids and take the van

The school van, however, would have picked her up at an early hour and “she soon realised that she is the only one who gets to do this”.

In fact, the element of uniqueness is a source of pride for Enya who pointed out that other schoolchildren tell her how lucky she was. She also made friends with an old man who fishes at the Marsamxett side. “He is there every morning and he has a new cat.”

Mr Jakobsen admitted that the ferry was a plus point when they chose Enya’s school. “You need more of these connections on both sides of the harbour”.