New investment in Gozo’s Maritime transport by Virtu Ferries

Jan 13 2022

Virtu Ferries recently announced the purchase of a brand new High Speed Ferry for the Mġarr, Gozo to Valletta, Malta route.

Indicating Virtu’s commitment to the Gozo with a €7 million investment, the HSC Gozo Express will be registered under the Maltese flag after having been designed by the Australian high speed ferry designers Incat Crowther.

The “Gozo Express” has an overall length of 42.2 meters as well as a carrying capacity of 322 passengers. Air conditioned lounges on two decks and outside seating for 40 passengers on the upper deck are a particular feature of this brand new vessel.

Powered by four MTU 12 V2000 M72 engines and four Rolls Royce water jets, it is capable of a maximum speed of more than 38 knots and a service speed of 35 knots.

It has already successfully completed sea trials in December 2021 and is expected to be delivered to Virtu Ferries by mid-March 2022. It will be replacing the SES San Pawl and will operate alongside the SES San Frangisk. The former will be redeployed on the company’s Venice to Croatia route under the banner of Venezia lines.

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Kyrian Nwoko calls out national team for vaccine ultimatum ahead of camp

Jan 13 2022

Maltese international footballer Kyrian Nwoko claimed that the national team’s coach Devis Mangia threatened players with expulsion form an Austria training camp should they not get vaccinated against COVID-19.

Posting to Facebook, the Valletta FC player said that the Malta International team had been training for weeks to attend an extensive camp and friendly games in Austria.

However, national team coach Devis Mangia informed the players that they would be administered the Johnson & Johnson vaccine prior to leaving. Nwoko said that just before a session, the players were encircled and told ‘you must take the vaccine or else you won’t be coming to Austria.’

He revealed how he had already refused vaccination and did so when approached during this meeting. ‘At that time no government in the world had yet taken such radical action, let alone a National team’ said Nwoko.

He revealed how the next day he was called for a personal meeting for an unsuccessful persuasion. He revealed that he was told that UEFA will be making vaccination mandatory in September but no action was since taken.

Nwoko was perplexed as to the rush to get players vaccinated, but then said that the day the vaccination occurred, MFA representatives, government officials, the Health minister himself and a media team were all present. ‘It was a PR stunt, to show the masses “look the national team players are doing it, so should you”.’

‘That was unfortunately the last time I represented the national time. […] Various players came up to me that day saying that they didn’t want to take it at that particular time but felt they had no choice. This is the sad reality that many are facing’ he concluded.

In the beginning of the post, he opened up about not wanting to share his experience initially. But he decided to do so because he saw what ‘a lot of people have been going through and the suffering they’ve endured during this tyranny.’

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David Thake steps down from parliament, wants to ‘be the change’

Jan 13 2022

Nationalist MP David Thake announced that he is stepping down from his parliamentary position following the revelation that one of his companies didn’t file its accounts for a decade.

Thake insisted he was only guilty of what he deemed a ‘stupid’ administrative mistake, but wants to nonetheless send out a message that the Party, and his, standards are higher than those of the Labour Party.

In a video, Thake said that he hopes his decision makes people stop and think about what standards to expect from their MPs.

‘I hope you ask yourselves what you want for this country and whether you want people in charge who view the country as their own personal playground and piggy bank. If that’s what you want, that’s what five more years of PL will give you.’

Thake’s resignation frees up a PN seat on the twelfth district. The PN co-opted St Paul’s Bay councillor Graziella Galea in his stead since Thake was elected via a casual election.

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Obligatory mask wearing removed for less than 2 people in public

Jan 13 2022

Addressing a press conference, Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne announced that as of next Monday, fully vaccinated people (with booster) out in public and in groups less than 2 can remove their face masks.

Fearne revealed that due to the festive seasons being over, people can now safely remove their masks should they be fully vaccinated with a booster shot.

The Health Minister also went on to announce that sports events will now be open for spectators given that those attending present proof of vaccination upon entering.

The two meter rule in establishments will also be removed and establishments can as of Monday 17th January adhere to whatever their permit allows in terms of space between tables and seatings.

The Minister said how the aim is to have 70% of those eligible for all three COVID shots to be vaccinated by the end of this week as the rollout continues with several mobile units opening up in different localities.

He went on to highlight Omicron’s impact on the world, quoting WHO’s Hans Kluger in saying that in two months, half of Europe’s population will have tested positive with COVID.

Fearne reiterated that the vaccine is the way out of this pandemic and that other measures such as mask wearing can help mitigate the spread.

#MaltaDaily