Maltese beaches must be cleared of "record" amounts of seaweed washed ashore over winter, the Infrastructure Ministry has said. 

In a statement, the ministry said clean-up crews had removed more than 1,300 tonnes of seaweed in March alone, bringing this year's total to 2,238 tonnes just three months into the year. 

Over the past four years, officials from the ministry's Cleansing Directorate have collected an average of 3,400 tonnes of seaweed a year from local beaches. 

"Even businesses which have been operating from beaches for decades are saying that they've never seen anything like it," the ministry claimed in its statement. 

The ministry said that despite several clean-ups during the winter months, seaweed had continued to wash up ashore. 

To try and speed up the clean-up process, the Cleansing Directorate has hired a hydraulic excavator to dig seaweed up from the sea. It is then placed ashore to dry, before being collected and disposed of by trucks. 

Crews were currently at Mellieħa's Għadira Bay three times a day, the ministry said. Once the popular beach is cleaned, the clean-up operation will move on to Golden Bay, Armier and Little Armier before clearing less popular beaches, the ministry said.  

Photo: Infrastructure Ministry

Those seaweed figures in full 

November 2016  - 1,105 tonnes collected
December 2016  - 325 tonnes
January 2017      - 403 tonnes
February 2017    - 481 tonnes
March 2017        - 1,354 tonnes  (up to March 26) 

How much seaweed was collected in previous years? 

2013 - 2,472 tonnes
2014 - 3,598 tonnes
2015 - 4,177 tonnes
2016 - 3,475 tonnes 
2017 - 2,238 tonnes (up to March 26)