Tirrenia has relaunched its Genoa-Livorno-Catania-Malta cargo route, aiming to “strengthen the offer towards Sicily and Malta” with a service for heavy vehicle drivers.

Three weekly trips from Genoa to Catania are being operated, together with three from Livorno to Catania. The Catania-Malta-Catania route will have two weekly departures.

The company intends to increase the frequency of these routes in the coming months.

For this new route. two new Ro-Ros will be utilised: the Eliana Marino and the Via Adriatico, offering high speed and capacity. The Eliana Marino will be used for the Malta service, while the Via Adriatico’s can host up to 75 drivers in 25 triple cabins.

Massimo Mura, chief executive officer of Tirrenia, said: “Our objective is to provide a further opportunity to clients building on the prospects of offering a service to another two markets, the Sicilian and Maltese one. We are offering a service that is mainly dedicated to Ro-Ro and vehicles, putting at the disposal a range of services earmarked for cargo and other sectors.”

SMS Group, who are the agents for Tirrenia, expressed satisfaction at bringing the service back to Malta. Managing director Simon Mifsud was particularly nostalgic as his first job was the Tirrenia agency.

“This is a very popular route and the competition provided by Tirrenia will no doubt be of great interest to clients, who until recently had no alternatives,” he said.