Description
People have been crossing the sea between Malta and Gozo for centuries.
From the end of the Second World War until the late 1970s, a number of private operators ran the ferry service connecting the islands, using ships with romantic names such as the Imperial Eagle, Calypsoland, Royal Lady and Queen of Peace.
Gozo Channel was formed in 1979 but initially performed only eight round trips a day, making life less than straightforward for those who lived in Gozo but worked in Malta. If you missed the ferry, you sometimes had to wait two or three hours for the next one to arrive.
The company’s first vessels to operate the Malta to Gozo route were Ghawdex, Melitaland and Mgarr.
Then, just as now, the scenic crossing with spectacular views of St Mary’s Tower and the Blue Lagoon at Comino was very popular with tourists.
Today, Gozo Channel performs more than 20,000 trips a year.
Four ships, Gaudos, Malita, Ta’ Pinu and Nikolaus, ferry around 5.9 million passengers and 1.7 million vehicles annually between the modern terminals at Mgarr and Cirkewwa.
