Updated Sunday morning
Virtu Ferries is to resume its service between Malta and Pozzallo this afternoon after technical problems forced it to cancel services on Friday and yesterday.
The company said the first departure Malta / Pozzallo will be today at 3 p.m.
It apologized for the inconvenience caused and thanked passengers for their cooperation.
The catamaran Jean de La Valette was forced to turn back to Malta on Friday evening, an hour into its crossing started, owing to a technical fault.
Passengers said they spent five hours on the catamaran waiting to learn whether the trip would resume.
In its statement, Virtu apologised for the inconvenience caused.
"The Jean de la Valette has been operating on the Malta / Sicily route for five years and performed over 3500 voyages. This is the first time the vessel could not perform a voyage due to technical reasons. Our technical staff are doing their very best to resolve the issue soonest," the company said.
"All passengers who were ticketed to travel on cancelled voyages will be offered an additional free ticket excluding port charges which may be utilized throughout this year. Passengers booked will be contacted in the coming days and issued with a voucher / ticket valid for a free passenger ticket .
A passenger told Times of Malta: "Unfortunately we were informed that the catamaran had technical problems while we were at sea and had to return back after an hour of operation.
"We spent five inside the catamaran, till midnight, waiting for an announcement, and in the end they informed us that the planned voyage was cancelled. That was extremely exhausting for all, and it inconvenienced a lot of passengers for several reasons."
He complained that foreign passengers were not offered accommodation free of charge.
"They only told us that we are entitled to a refund. How are they compensating us for the lost time, business, etc.? I am very disappointed with that confirming the negative effects of a monopolistic service provider in Malta," the passenger said.