MSC Cruise is considering the introduction of some overnight port visits by its ships, and one of its liners will actually be here overnight to usher in the New year, company CEO Pierfrancesco Vago said this afternoon.

He was speaking at the Valletta Waterfont, where the company signed a five-year commitment with Viset to continue to include Grand Harbour in its itinerary.

The cruise line is to bring 150,000 cruise passengers to Malta next year. Mr Vago said that it was estimated that each passenger spent about €60 when sightseeing in Malta, which meant that MSC passengers, in just one year, would be contributed around €9 million to the Maltese economy.

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, who was present for the signing ceremony, praised MSC for their confidence in Malta and for having recognised the island's potential.

He also observed that the merchant shipping arm of MSC had decided to register 10 of its vessels in Malta.

Viset Chairman Anton Micallef described the agreement as a consolidation of the excellent relationship between Viset and MSC Cruises.

CEO John Portelli said that Viset is expecting to close 2010 with substantially higher total passenger movements when compared to 2009.

Last month, cruise passenger movements increased by around 4% over the same month last year. A total of 58,734 passenger movements were recorded compared to 56,602 in October 2009. This year, VISET Malta is expected to handle its 4 millionth passenger since it started managing the cruise passenger terminal in the port of Valletta.