The driver of a car that was being driven off the Gozo Channel ferry this morning had the shock of her life  when the vessel ramp was dislodged almost tipping her vehicle into the sea. 

The car was being driven out of the ferry at Cirkewwa around 7.30am.

The Gozitan mother was in the car with her baby son and a friend when she felt a sudden jolt. Instantly slamming the brakes, the car started sliding towards the sea anyway, she said.

“We were half-way down the ramp when we felt the car move downwards. The next thing I know, my car is sliding towards the sea,” the distraught mother, who did not wish to be named, told Times of Malta.

The next thing I know, my car is sliding towards the sea

According to the woman, a truck driver in the other lane also tried reversing his vehicle, colliding into the car right behind.

Another truck driver opted to jump out of his vehicle and run off the ramp to safety. A fourth vehicle, a car, was caught between the ramp's flaps and pushed upwards. As a result, she said, the car was left dangling in mid-air until Gozo Channel workers managed to push it off the ramp and back into the ferry.

“There was absolute chaos. Apart from the three cars on the ramp that skidded off, another was caught mid-air," the woman said. 

Gozo Channel chairman Joe Cordina told timesofmalta.com: “One of the ropes holding the ferry in place snapped, and as a result the ship moved back slightly. Drivers were on the ramp but nobody was injured. The workers had everything under control.” 

Witnesses said seconds after the vessel moved, Gozo Channel workers started to shift the ramp to prevent the car from plunging into the sea.

Asked what could have caused the rope to snap, Mr Cordina said this could have been due to the strong winds and undercurrents but said he would not comment further until a report by the company's engineers is drawn up.

This would be made available to him in the coming days, he said.

The Gozo Channel service remains uninterrupted.