Transport Malta has signed a 15-year exclusivity agreement with the Malta Maritime Pilots Cooperative enabling it to operate in all of Malta and Gozo’s ports.
In return, the cooperative must invest €1.5 million in training and pilot boats over the next five years while retaining the same amount of employment or expanding. It will also participate in the National Emergency Response Training.
Presiding over the signing, Transport Minister Austin Gatt said the cooperative began operating in 2007 and became very successful. During this time there were no serious incidents in any of Malta’s ports, thanks in part to the professionalism shown.
The cooperative had spent five years responding to the initial scepticism and was now being rewarded with what it deserved: more confidence and a guarantee of exclusivity.
Source: Times of Malta