Virtù Ferries’ new catamaran, the MV Jean de la Valette, set to become the largest high-speed catamaran operating in the Mediterranean, was on schedule for delivery at the end of this month, the company said.

The vessel is being built at the Austal shipyard in Henderson, Western Australia, where the last of the company’s ferries, the Maria Dolores, was also made.

It will operate on the Malta-Pozzallo and Malta-Catania routes, making the run in 90 minutes and three hours respectively.

The vessel’s four engines produce just shy of 50,000 bhp each, enough power to catapult the 107-metre-long, 850-ton catamaran to a cruising speed of 39 knots or 70km/h.

Capable of carrying 800 passengers and 156 cars, the catamaran also has an outside seating area for 120 passengers.

It will be deployed on the Malta-Sicily routes from the end of September.