The Public Contracts Review Board has today directed Transport Malta that the request for proposals (RFP) for a public service concession contract for the Gozo hop-on, hop-off sea ferry service be cancelled

The Board went on to direct that a new RFP be issued taking into account all the considerations deliberated on by the Board, on the formulation of technical specifications and conditions in the RFP.

It also directed that the Authority seeks professional advice from competent Authorities, regarding the period of the concession.

The Board went on to recommend that, enquiries be made with the relevant EU Authorities to ensure that, conditions laid down in the new RFP document do not breach any of the provisions relating to the ‘Maritime Cabotage Regulations.”

Transport Malta in a statement said that it has noted the decision taken by the PCRB (Public Contracts Review Board) regarding the scheduled sea passenger service to and from a number of destinations including Gozo, as well as Marsaxlokk, Ta ‘Xbiex, Saint Paul’s Bay St. Julian’s and Valletta.

The Authority said that it welcomed with satisfaction that PCRB has confirmed that it makes sense the service would be in a commercial concession and not a Public Service Obligation.

“In this way, the Government will not issue a subsidy to the Operator as it is commercially viable as was already known from the study prepared by the E-Cubed Economists who worked on behalf of the Authority on this call,” it said.

As a consequence, the PCRB acknowledged that such a concession requires operator exclusivity on these routes, the Authority said.

Therefore TM said that it “undertakes to work on the recommendations given by the same Board, among which the concession period will not exceed 12 years and more details on routes, schedule and technical details.”

It went on to say that, “above all, the PCRB confirmed that the criteria and evaluation system published by the Authority were fair and appropriate.”

The PCRB also stated that “there is no breach of State Aid when the Authority develops and provides the infrastructure for the operator to win the concession,” TM said.

Transport Malta concluded by saying that “the commitment of the Authority remains driven by the conviction that in our country we will continue to strengthen shipping, which is a feasible alternative to the use of private cars to and from a number of destinations in our country, including Gozo.”

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