The new fast connection that will compete with Virtu Ferries between the two islands is preparing to cast off
From next May 18th the newborn shipping company Ragusa Xpress Owned by mega entrepreneur Paul Gauci, of supermarkets Pama and Pavi fame will start its long-awaited new connection between Malta and Sicily according to Shipping Italy
The service will be operated with a 51-meter catamaran
The service will be operated with a 51-meter catamaran that bears the same name as the company and will be able to transport up to 400 passengers and 18 vehicles on each trip in about 40 minutes. ome initial technical tests had already been held in 2023 and 2024, the last ones last autumn, and the connection should have already been active initially from June 2023.
According to Sicilian newspapers, Ragusa Xpress has already informed local agencies that it plans to start on 18 May with a few commercial crossings and then become daily from July.
Begin fantastic journeys between Malta and Marina di Ragusa
The same year in January there was talk of a start by summer 2024 while finally this year the time for a start of the connection seems to be ripe. Another sign in this sense are some announcements for the recruitment of on-board personnel that appeared starting from the end of March.The company’s website states: “We are almost ready to cast off! We are almost ready to set sail and begin fantastic journeys between Malta and Marina di Ragusa”.
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No details on the fare prices
No details on the fare prices for the almost two-hour crossing are available yet; however, the new ferry is expected to compete with Virtu, which operates to Pozzallo and Catania.
Departures from MaltaÂ
The company has already communicated to some operators that the scheduled service will begin on May 18 with departures on Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from Malta and from Marina di Ragusa the days immediately after. From June 30, however, the trips should increase to a daily frequency with double trips scheduled on Mondays, Fridays and Sundays.
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This new fast connection
This new fast connection between the two islands from the Ragusa tourist port – which is added to the service active for years by Virtus Ferries from the port of Pozzallo – is now expected shortly, after the final necessary authorizations have been completed.
KM Malta
A few weeks ago, the new national airline, KM Malta, announced that it would not continue operating to Catania during winter as the route was losing money. This was caused mainly by competition from Virtu and Ryanair.
By acquiring a 30-year concession for Marina di Ragusa from the company that originally built it but later faced financial difficulties, Gauci plans to develop the surrounding area through tourism-related projects.
About Ragusa Xpress
Ragusa Xpress is the name of the company registered with the Maltese Chamber of Commerce in 2017; the owner is Paul Gauci, an entrepreneur who took over the thirty-year concession of the Marina di Ragusa tourist port in 2022 from the company that had acquired the rights. The same time ago, following meetings with some local entrepreneurs and professionals, he had then decided to co-opt them with minimum shares in the board of directors of the new company that will manage the tourist port, with the aim of carrying out a program of real estate investments linked to tourism.
