Repairs on the Virtu Ferries catamaran are not expected to start before Monday, forcing holidaymakers to cancel trips to Sicily with their car in the coming days.
The MV Jean de La Valette ferry remains stranded in Pozzallo pending a report on the extent of the damage it sustained when it hit the pier in Sicily on Thursday.
This is expected any time between tomorrow and Monday, a Virtu Ferries spokesman told the Times of Malta.
About 35 cars remain stuck in Pozzallo. Virtu Ferries has made arrangements for the drivers to keep the vehicles in a car park close by until the ferry is back in service.
MV San Ġwann is operating the scheduled trips but is only catering for passengers as it can only take 20 vehicles.
Repairing the damage could take up to a week but the company spokesman insisted he was “in no position to confirm anything at this point”.
We are very upset. We had been planning this holiday for months
He reiterated that they would only have an indication of when the service would return to normal once the damage report was in hand. A frustrated passenger who was travelling to Sicily with eight friends tomorrow told this newspaper she had been planning the four-day holiday since Christmas but was now forced to cancel the trip.
After contacting Virtu Ferries, the group was told they could use their tickets once the damage was repaired or accept a refund. “We received a full refund but that’s not what we wanted. We were going there with two cars but we had to cancel as no other dates work for us,” the passenger, who did not wish to be named, said.
“We are very upset. We had been planning this holiday for months.”
August is peak holiday season with many Maltese travelling to the neighbouring island but the spokesman was unable to say how many people cancelled their trip as a result of the accident.
Two other families in Sicily, due to return tomorrow, said they were never contacted by the company and spent several hours trying to get through.
They were finally offered two options: leave the cars behind and a driver would bring them over, though no explanation was given on how this would work out, or eventually they could return for the cars themselves once the service was up and running.
Transport Malta, which is working with Virtu Ferries on the matter, said: “Once the necessary repairs are carried out, surveyed and certified, the ship will be authorised to continue with operations.”