A new ferry service has been announced, connecting Malta with Sicily and mainland Italy. Gollcher Company Ltd, as the agents for Grandi Navi Veloci, have announced that GNV will have three weekly sailings to/from Malta.

The RoRo ferry will service Genoa-Malta, Palermo (Sicily) – Malta, with Naples and Civitavecchia connections also available from Palermo.

It is unclear when the ferry service is due to launch.

This brings the number of operators up to three, with well-established Virtu Ferries and newly launched Ponte Ferries.

For years, Malta-Sicily by ferry has been serviced through Virtu Ferries, with two routes connecting Malta to Catania and Palermo, offering a combined 14 sailings per week.

In addition, newly established Ponte Ferries in December 2020 announced it will be providing a Malta-Sicily fast ferry service from summer 2021 with a 96-metre passenger, vehicle and cargo-carrying, high-speed craft.

The ferry, which will shuttle every day between Malta and the Port of Augusta — situated between Catania and Syracuse, will bring the total number of Malta-Sicily ferry operators to three.

Ponte Ferries is a joint venture between Magro Brothers Investments Ltd and Merill In-vest Ltd, owned by entrepreneur brothers Michael and Julian Zammit Tabona, and businessmen Mario Muscat and Fabio Muscat, who are the owner and CEO of OZO Group, respectively.