Malta is a maritime nation at heart. An island blessed with a fine natural harbour right in the middle of one of the busiest sea lanes, it has seen its history forged by the activity in its ports.

The island today boasts the fourth biggest ship registry in the world. It has a busy freeport, a dockyard able to take on the most complex of jobs and yacht marinas which cry out for more berths to meet demand.

Another sector which is growing fast is that of cruise liners. Perhaps Malta started late on developing this sector's potential, but the Malta Maritime Authority has just confirmed that this year they were expecting more than 400 calls by cruise liners. This would be a record, easily surpassing the peak figure reached last year.

The liners, some of them floating palaces towering even higher than the Floriana bastions beneath which they berth, are expected to bring some 300,000 passengers compared to 270,000 visitors last year. Clearly, the European market has compensated for cancellations by American cruise passengers in the wake of the September 11 events.

Malta provides some particular advantages for cruise operators. Not only is its harbour one of the finest, but it is right at the doorstep of the capital city, enabling passengers to actually walk to it, taking in the magnificent view of the fortifications as they do. Indeed, the island itself is so small, excursions can take in several important sites within the few hours that a ship stays in harbour.

Malta needs to do everything it can to maximise the benefits of such a growing sector. It is well known that earnings from cruise passengers are far lower than those from ordinary tourists - they do not stay in hotels, they hardly ever use local restaurants and they do very little shopping. On the other hand, they do not put pressure on the infrastructure.

But the few hours cruise passengers spend here can be considered as a prime direct promotion in the sense that their short visit here can well encourage some of them to return for longer stays.

Harbour facilities, including the availability of the dockyard, should be exploited to attract operators to use the island as their home port. In this context, the building of the cruise liner terminal is a priority. It has been a year since parliament approved the emphyteutical grant of Pinto wharf for the building of a Lm14 million cruise liner passenger terminal by the Viset consortium.

The terminal would serve to create employment opportunities related to cruise business, but growth cannot come on the strength of the terminal alone.

With the harbour being less than 30 minutes away from the airport, Malta International Airport should maximise its small shareholding in Viset through the joint promotion of "stay and cruise" holidays. Indeed such ventures should be organised in partnership with the major cruise lines. Investment by the cruise lines themselves would heighten their interest to bring vessels here.

But to be able to do this Malta must remain competitive and attractive. Harbour tariffs and excursion costs need to be reasonable and Valletta, which is what cruise passengers see most, must meet expectations. The city and its approaches from the harbour, particularly the level of cleanliness, are far from satisfactory. And the city cannot go to sleep at 3 p.m.