Gozo Channel is looking into the possibility of installing new decks on two of its ferries to be able to take nearly double the number of cars per trip, Finance Minister Tonio Fenech said yesterday.

He said it was still too early to say whether the decks, which would be “hoistable”, were financially feasible as the studies were still under way.

The mv Malita is the only vessel in the fleet of three which has this facility. It can take 155 cars rather than 80 without hoistable decks.

Mr Fenech was speaking aboard the mv Gaudos, the second of the Malta-Gozo ferries to undergo an overhaul after 10 years of operation.

The Gaudos returned to service after a €1.7 million upgrade. The mv Ta’ Pinu was upgraded last year at a cost of €1.2 million.

Gozo Channel chairman Joe Borg said an overhaul after 10 years was in line with international obligations.

The Gaudos’ thrusters were removed, cleaned, serviced and re-installed. Its cafeteria was upgraded while the ship was re-painted.

The company had seen improved results over recent months, Mr Fenech said. In the first quarter of this year Gozo Channel carried 100,000 more passengers than in the same period last year – a nine per cent increase. There was also a five per cent increase in the number of cars, to 323,000.

Last year, the company made more than 20,000 trips, carrying 4.03 million passengers and 1.1 million cars.