Maltese Government News

Cruise ships moored in the Maltese port of Valletta will soon be able to plug into the island's energy grid, drawing the power they require to be fully operative without having to keep their diesel engines running. Nidec ASI, head of the Nidec Industrial Solutions platform belonging to the Nidec Group, said it has secured a  €12 million contract with the Maltese company Excel Sis for the creation of a “shore-to-ship” project at the port. Nidec ASI was awarded the supply of power and high-tech systems and all related engineering…

The longest Offshore Patrol Vessel ever built by Vittoria Shipyard was delivered this morning to the Maltese government by Luigi Duò, president of Vittoria Shipyard, during a ceremony that took place in the facilities of the Venetian company. Representing Malta was brigadier Jeffrey Curmi, commander of the armed forces. The OPV P71 is a 75-m-long vessel designed and constructed by the Venetian shipyard that specializes in building ships up to 100 meters in overall length for military, paramilitary, commercial, transportation and work-related use.

A Maersk oil tanker has been anchored off the coast of Malta for two weeks after rescuing 27 migrants, including a child and a pregnant woman, with authorities in Malta and Tunisia denying the vessel entry, the company said on Wednesday.The crew of Maersk Etienne, an oil tanker owned by Denmark's Maersk Tankers, rescued the migrants following a request from Maltese officials on August 4, the company said.The migrants' wooden dinghy that had been at sea for days sank immediately after the rescue operation…

Malta plans to keep 57 rescued migrants aboard a private ship anchored just outside territorial waters until the European Union finds a way to rehouse them, Prime Minister Robert Abela said on Friday.The migrants were plucked from a dinghy earlier this week inside Malta’s search and rescue zone by a commercial fishing vessel that had been chartered by the Maltese government to intercept possible asylum seekers.The group were subsequently transferred to a launch normally used for tourist harbour cruises…

Italy on Friday urged Malta to go to the aid of an overcrowded boat carrying hundreds of migrants, only hours after the Italian president intervened to end a dispute within the ruling coalition over rescued immigrants.There have been two similar stand-offs with Malta since Italy's new populist government, which pairs the far-right League party with the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement, took power on June 1.Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, who is also leader of the League, said Italy would not take in the migrants because they were Malta's responsibility. Malta, a small island nation, has generally refused to take in large numbers of boat migrants.Italy has seen more than 650…

The Maltese government is all set to set to transform the ex-Malta Shipbuilding site into a service hub for the oil and gas industry, directly employing 160 people while paving the way for Malta to benefit from growing business in the Mediterranean region. The had sought bids for the concession of the 175,000 square metre site for its development as a maritime hub. Twenty-eight expressions of interest were submitted, followed by six bids, and last January, Ablecare Oilfield Services Group – a Maltese company established in 2001 – was announced the preferred bidder for the site. The entire Malta Shipbuilding site is to be allocated to the Ablecare Group in what should be a 45-year lease.

Malta and Azerbaijan have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to collaborate on the development of a gas hub which would cater for local and international markets, reports the Times of Malta. The MOU targets strategic collaboration in the oil and gas sector as part of the government’s vision to transform energy and petroleum sectors into key value added economic activities. To this end, both sides identified a number of key areas. The European Union is also looking southwards to develop a “southern gas corridor” for natural gas from Azerbaijan to fuel the European mainland. A key policy that also ties in with the Maltese government’s prospective energy shift to gas…

China has evacuated several hundred workers from Libya and is taking them by ship to Malta, the head of the Malta Civil Service, Mario Cutajar, said on Wednesday. He said the Maltese government was arranging temporary accommodation for the workers and was preparing for the eventuality of a bigger evacuation from the North African country if the unrest there continues to grow. Cutajar is heading a crisis centre to cater for the fallout of the situation in Libya. Earlier on Wednesday, the Philippines said it had chartered a ship to take up to 1,000 Filipinos to Malta. Cutajar said 150 foreign workers, mostly Filipinos, had arrived in Malta on Tuesday on flights from Mitiga airport near Tripoli.

The Maltese Government and Transport Malta said they are are investigating the alleged accident involving the Malta registered ship MT Baku, in international waters, off the coast of Libya. The government has been in continuous contact with the owners of the ship and the Libyan authorities, since Sunday evening when the events started to develop. Malta, as the flag State of the ship, made immediate representations with the Libyan Government and it was only after its intervention that the ship sailed to outside Maltese territorial waters. The safety of the crew and the ship was of utmost priority throughout the events. Malta shall continue to pursue the matter with the Libyan authorities in order to ensure that Maltese interests are protected in terms of international maritime law…

Amphibious transport dock ship 'USS San Antonio' was alerted by the Maltese Government to the plight of a raft crowded with immigrants in heavy weather in the central Mediterranean Sea. Winds and seas were rocking the raft when it was spotted by a Maltese patrol aircraft. Shortly afterwards, the Maltese government contacted several ships in the area, as well as U.S. 6th Fleet, headquartered in Naples, Italy, and requested rescue assistance. San Antonio was a little more than 60 nautical miles away when she was directed to assist…