Opposition: New ferry no good

THE Opposition yesterday alleged a new ferry being leased for the seabridge was defective and that a director in the company that owned it had faced criminal charges in Malta.

Minister of Works and Transport Rohan Sinanan, in reply, defended the vessel’s seaworthiness by saying it had, up to recently, been working in Europe.

Opposition Senator Wade Mark queried the vessel’s condition in an urgent question to Sinanan in the Senate, after which he spoke to reporters. Opposition activist Devant Maharaj raised questions over the vessel’s owners in an e-mail to media houses, accompanied by a news report.

Sinanan answered Mark’s question and also spoke to reporters in the Senate on the boat’s seaworthiness, but later referred Newsday to Nidco regarding queries about the boat owners.

Mark, in his Senate question, had asked the ferry’s name, charter rate, lease period and supplier’s name.

Sinanan replied that the contract was being finalised by Nidco, and as soon as that was completed the details would be provided to Mark. He had trouble pronouncing the name, but it sounded something like “Jean de la Valette.”

Sinanan said the lease was part of the Government’s medium-term plan for the seabridge, with owners Virtu Holdings being the preferred bidder out of three companies. He said Nidco had used a British specialist maritime service to get the vessel. The lease is for a year, with an option for a further six months, he added.

Mark, in a supplemental question, charged the ferry was defective and was subject to arbitration and court proceedings overseas. Sinanan retorted, “I’m not surprised by that question. I expect the Opposition to bring fake news and damage the efforts by this Government for a better seabridge.”

Later Mark pressed his point to reporters, alleging Virtu had refused to accept the ferry from shipbuilders Austal over an allegedly defective hull and superstructure. He gave reporters copies of a 2017 article from Trade Winds News, headlined “Austal pays to end fight, apparently with Virtu ferries,” and an apparent extract from the Austal website referring to a longstanding arbitration matter.

Mark told reporters the article showed it was not true for Sinanan to dub his earlier Senate question “fake news.”

Sinanan told reporters the vessel had been operating in Europe, where it would have been subject to regulation, adding, “This is just Wade Mark being Wade Mark.”

Devant Maharaj sent reporters a 2013 article from the Times of Malta that said Francis Portelli, then a Virtu director, was charged in connection with an oil-procurement scandal. In reply Sinanan referred Newsday to Nidco, whose corporate communications officer told us to e-mail him our questions. The newspaper awaits a reply.

Mark’s article said Australian shipbuilder Austal had taken the opportunity to end costly and complex arbitration in the UK over a defect in a commercial vessel that it delivered to a European customer seven years ago. The settlement had cost Austal some US$10 million.

The article said, “While the other company involved in the battle was not disclosed, Trade Winds has previously reported that Austal was locked in an arbitration fight with Virtu over construction of the 800-passenger, 230-car Jean de la Valette (built 2000).

“Virtu, which operates ferry services between Malta and Sicily, had argued that Austal should have alerted it to defects in the ropax ferry’s welds.”

A photo accompanying the online article shows Austal’s chief operating officer Andrew Bellamy with Virtu Fast Ferries managing director Francis Portelli celebrating the ferry’s delivery. A second document from Mark, seemingly from Austal’s website, said Austal had settled a longstanding arbitration matter. “The arbitration related to a latent defect in a commercial vessel delivered to a European customer seven years ago.”

Maharaj’s article named Portelli, then 63, as a Virtu director. He pleaded not guilty to charges of “bribery, being an accomplice to a crime committed by a public official and money laundering,” in an oil-procurement scandal in Malta.