Passengers who boarded a Gozo Channel ferry after the long weekend on Sunday night were made to wait nearly 45 minutes for the National Philharmonic Orchestra at the request of the Victoria local council.

The ferry was scheduled to leave at 10.15 p.m. but ended up departing at 10.50 p.m. to the dismay of hundreds of passengers who were left guessing why the full boat remained docked in the harbour.

Gozo Channel yesterday gave The Times an explanation for the delay, saying it was done to accommodate the 80-strong orchestra which was performing at a concert organised by the Victoria local council to mark the 125th anniversary of the city becoming the Gozo’s capital.

If the ferry had not waited for the musicians, they would have had to catch the 11.30 p.m. ferry instead.

“The request was made by the council on the orchestra’s behalf and it is the company’s practice, where possible, to try to accommodate such requests. Unfortunately, the group was somewhat later than expected and there was a consequent delay to the departure of the MV Malita.”

Irate passengers who spoke to The Times said they were not given any explanation for the delay, despite repeatedly asking for one.

The incident reminded passengers of a similar episode last November, when then Gozo Channel chairman Joseph Grech resigned after The Sunday Times revealed he made a ferry turn back for him when he was running late.

A passenger who demanded answers during Sunday night’s wait said the ferry’s chief officer told him the captain would lose his job if the boat did not follow orders to postpone departure.

“The chief officer told me: ‘Last time the chairman resigned for making the boat turn back, but if the captain does not wait, it will be his job on the line’,” a passenger said. The long weekend had already started on a bad note for Gozo Channel as it was operating with its smallest ferry, the Gaudos – the Ta’ Pinu vessel is at the dockyard, while its largest boat, the Malita, developed a fault in one of its bow-doors.

The Malita was back in operation on Sunday afternoon but developed problems again yesterday morning.

Initial attempts to fix the fault failed to be carried out successfully in time so the management yesterday decided to use the boat anyway, getting vehicles to embark and disembark from the same door.

This led to “inevitable delays”, the company said, adding that the vessel would be back in full operational mode shortly.