When Joseph Zerafa, 66, wheeled his disabled son up the Gozo ferry ramp, workers directed him to the lift but he never got that far.

Cars blocked his way and Mr Zerafa, his wife Sylvia, 64, and their 40-year-old disabled son Donovan had to spend the 30-minute journey to Gozo in the ship’s hold.

The lift is situated in the middle of the hold and, although the space in front of it is kept clear, there is no passageway leading to it.

From the kitchen of the family’s San Ġwann flat, Mr Zerafa speaks of his frustration: “It is not as if I can simply close the wheelchair and ask my son to squeeze past the parked cars.”

How they were trapped on the ferry.

Donovan cannot walk well, suffers from asthma and his weight makes it difficult for his elderly parents to prop him up for any length of time.

The Zerafas were going to Gozo to renew Donovan’s membership with the Arka Foundation, a respite home for the disabled.

“It was meant to be a relaxing day out but it started on the wrong foot,” Mrs Zerafa interjects as she helps her son sit on a chair next to the table where we are having our chat.

Donovan is interested in the photographer’s camera. “He likes gadgets and has a collection of radios,” she says, with a smile.

Mrs Zerafa then produces a mobile phone photo of the incident involving her family. On the same ferry, she adds, an elderly English woman had to abandon her wheelchair and hobble along to the lift with a walking stick.

Mr Zerafa says a story carried in The Times last week showing the new car deck on the refurbished Ta’ Pinu ferry prompted him to go public with the incident.

“The photos of the empty car deck looked nice but I could not help but picture the cars parked bumper to bumper with no access for wheelchair-bound people,” he says.

But it is not just the lack of a proper passage for wheelchairs that irks Mr Zerafa.

The reaction of a Gozo Channel worker directing cars on the ship on the day of the incident was wrong, he adds. “When I complained about the situation the response I got was ‘you should have come up first’.”

He feels this is unfair, especially since the family decided to use the Arriva bus service to reach Ċirkewwa rather than drive their own van. The new bus service, he says, has made it easier to travel around with a wheelchair although the large bendy buses do not yet have a harness for wheelchairs.

“Had I gone to Gozo with my van we would have stayed in it.

But it is unfair to justify the lack of a proper passageway by telling me I should have come up first. I do not like jumping queues and normally avoid the rush.”

He appeals for more awareness on the needs of disabled people. A gangway that allows easy access to the lift, he adds, is important also for safety reasons.

The problems with the Gozo ferry service arise on the Malta side because passengers have to use the car ramp to enter and leave the ship. The situation at Mġarr, Gozo, is different because people use the terminal to reach the passenger decks directly.

“When we came down from Gozo it was not a problem but even when they eventually build the terminal at Ċirkewwa, a passageway should still be created in the hold,” Mr Zerafa says.