The provider of the new fast-ferry service to Gozo will have to take over the traditional channel crossing too, unless Gozo Channel manages to find a partner to provide the fast-ferry service itself – but time is running out, with just one month to go to the closing date, the Times of Malta has learnt.

Gozo Channel issued an invitation to find a partner last May but has not yet reached an agreement, sources said. The partner would need to reach an agreement with the Gozo Channel Group in enough time for a bid to be submitted by January 31.

When issuing its call for interested operators last spring, the government decided that both the new fast-ferry service and the current service between Ċirkewwa and Mġarr should be run by the same company.

The concession being offered is for the same operator to run both the current service and a fast-ferry passenger-only service between Mġarr and Barriera Wharf in Valletta.

The documents say this is being done for “technical and logistical reasons, as well as synergies between the fast-ferry services and the conventional ferry services and with a view to generating economies of scale and attracting operators”.

The request for bidders for the services was issued on April 28, and last May, the Prime Minister said there had been 12 companies that expressed interest in operating the fast ferry.

The fast ferry will need to carry between 300 and 350 passengers

However, the original closing date of July 31, 2017 was extended to January 31, 2018.

The concession is only for a five-year period, and the 117-page document says the new operator will have to take over from Gozo Channel the operation of the existing ferry services and the management and operation of the port facilities involved.

To complicate the situation, Gozo Minister Justyne Caruana recently raised the possibility of a fourth ferry for Gozo Channel. The fast-ferry service would be mostly aimed at peak times in the morning when residents of Gozo travel to Malta for work purposes and in the afternoon when they return home.

The concession document only envisages three trips from Mġarr every weekday (at 6am, 8am and 4.30pm) and from Valletta (at 7am, 3.30pm and 5.30pm). The times for Saturdays and Sundays are different, and departures from Valletta are envisaged at 6.30pm on the former and 7pm and 9pm on the latter.

Each trip will take no more than 45 minutes, and the fast ferry will need to carry between 300 and 350 passengers. The concession documents also specify that the fees will be €6.15 for each passenger, €5.55 after 8pm, €2.65 for Gozo residents, and €1.50 for senior citizens.

Bidders must pay a bid bond of €60,000 and have at least five years’ experience in operating scheduled ferry services. The concession also specifies that the successful bidder must have a “positive net asset situation”, equity of at least €2,500,000 and a turnover of at least €10,000,000 in the last financial year.

In 2016, Gozo Channel completed 22,404 trips, in doing so ferrying 5,133,000 passengers and 1,459,114 vehicles.

Cargo trips were also previously performed regularly bet-ween Sa Maison and Mġarr.