A new multi-million euro investment in an area of Bengħajsa is planned by locally-based company Mariner to turn the site into an international distribution and warehousing hub.

Marin Hili, whose group is behind the project, told The Sunday Times of Malta that the idea has been in the pipeline for some time and detailed plans werefinalised recently.

“All the necessary notifications to the authorities have been filed,” Mr Hili said.

The 70,000 square metre site – the size of more than nine football pitches – owned by Mariner Capital will be turned into an international hive of activity for the storage and redistribution of goods coming into Malta through the Freeport and the airport.

“The proposed project seeks to apply Mariner’s expertise to harness the potential arising from the proximity of both the Freeport and the international airport,” Mr Hili said.

Mariner group, which has established a track record in the international maritime industry, already operates similar projects abroad.

The company currently owns and manages 36,000 square metres of warehousing space within the Baltic Container Terminal which is also owned by Mariner and located in the Freeport of Riga, Latvia. The company wants to mirror its Baltics success in Malta.

“We have acquired a lot of experience and have the added advantage of already knowing the requirements of large companies who are now our clients,” Mr Hili said.

Mariner will be eyeing to attract large international companies opting to use Malta as their international distribution gateway into Europe and North Africa.

Companies, particularly from the Far East, normally require such facilities in order to ease the delivery of their goods into European and African markets.

The facilities, which will include cold storage and reefer warehousing, will aim at attracting international clients wanting to store a wide variety of goods including perishable goods such as foodstuffs in temperature controlled facilities.