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Valletta Cruise Port given approval on COVID-19 operational guidelines

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Valletta Cruise Port together with local authorities and partners has worked on COVID-19 Cruise Operations Guidelines for a Safe Continuation of Cruising in Valletta with the aim of facilitating operations in this transitional phase. 

These operating guidelines were prepared and forwarded to the Maltese health authorities, with approval received last week, reported Valletta Cruise Port, part of Global Ports Holding(GPH).

The guideline document establishes, embodies and merges Valletta Cruise Port’s operational plans, procedures and guidelines with cruise line protocols to ascertain the safe continuation of cruising.

The compilation of these guidelines is based on the results of facility assessments within the context of recent and current regional events brought about by the pandemic. 

Paving way for future calls

Any future calls to Malta must embody these guidelines. 

Stephen Xuereb, CEO of Valletta Cruise Port and COO of Global Ports Holding commented, ‘It has been a challenging time for the cruise community, but the industry is clearly inching closer to a restart. After months of discussions with numerous stakeholders we are happy to be sharing these guidelines with the cruise lines and look forward to welcoming cruise ships, their guests and crew to Valletta.’

Shore power initiative

MedCruise member, Valletta Cruise, is supporting a €49.9m iinitiative spearheaded by Infrastructure Malta and Transport Malta to develop shore-side electricity infrastructure. The first of this two-phased project includes a €37m investment to provide shore power on the five main cruise ship quays of the Grand Harbour by the end of 2023. 

Excavation works have commenced for the underground electricity cables that will distribute electricity from an existing distribution centre to the quays at Valletta’s Grand Harbour.

Each quay will be supplied with shore-side transformers and shore-to-ship connection panels that enable ships to turn off their combustion engines and switch to electrical power as soon as they berth. To this effect works are currently in progress on Quays Pinto 4-5.