A new Malta-Sicily catamaran is expected to be delivered to Virtu Ferries by the fourth quarter of 2018, the company announced this morning. 

The €75 million vessel will have a capacity of 900 passengers in four luxury lounges on two passenger decks and additional outside seating. The full span of the garage deck is designed to carry 23 heavy commercial trailers, equivalent to 490 truck lane metres or 167 cars.

The current Jean De La Valette can take 800 passengers with 342 truck lane metres.

Virtu Ferries signed the contract with Incat Tasmania Pty Ltd for the 1,000-ton deadweight, which will be the largest RoPax catamaran ever built for operation in the Mediterranean, and the second largest in the world.

Like the vessel Jean De La Valette, the crossing between Malta and Sicily will take approximately 90 minutes. The new vessel will be deployed on Virtu's core route between Malta and Sicily alongside the Jean De La Valette. The current schedule of daily return voyages between the two neighbouring EU islands will be further increased to better connect Malta to mainland Europe.

Incat Tasmania are the world leaders in building large environmentally friendly high speed ferries with an emphasis on eco operations and fuel efficiency. 

Virtu said it is undertaking a number of initiatives to increase incoming tourism and better serve the Maltese and Italian business communities.