Do US naval visits really leave €1 million in cash?

To the ardent believers in Malta’s Cold War neutrality, the sight of military warships berthed in Valletta always rankles.

But little of this disapproval towards NATO ships sticks with those in business, who see military visits as yet another form of tourism that reaps great economic benefits.

This year alone, Malta received 76 visits from 53 different vessels, many of them in transit towards Libya or occupied in the mass evacuation that took place in March. Frigates, submarines and destroyers spent up to as many as five days berthed in Valletta, with the largest – the amphibious assault ship HMS Ocean which can carry over 1,000 crew – spending an entire week.

According to a US embassy cable published on Wikileaks, former US ambassador Douglas Kmiec cites a NATO request for some six ship visits “to reacquaint Malta with [their] economic and associational value”.

But how much cash can a military vessel really put into the economy at a time?

Philip Fenech, the vice-president of the Chamber and SMEs and a spokesperson for Paceville business owners estimates that an “average-sized warship” leaves €1 million in the economy.

“It’s not just entertainment, because there is also ship chandling and other services for the vessel itself. I think it leaves bigger dividends than one thinks.”

Fenech says he is aware of the uneasiness about increasing naval visits to Malta. “Incidents are bound to happen in any area of the leisure industry when things get busy. It happens even in football, if you take the Malta-Croatia match as an example when the away supporters starting breaking up the stadium seats.

“But naval tourism is really part of the marketing mix and it actually is a back-up whenever other segments suffer,” Fenech says.

There is little research available on the web, but the Queensland Tourism Authority in Australia claims military vessels potentially have “even greater economic benefits” than cruise ships.

Like cruise ships, military vessels utilise similar services and military personnel avail themselves of tourism and R&R opportunities. Military vessels will also pay for towage, pilotage, special fendering, ships agents, water, fuel, stores and maintenance. Spending rates are also similar to cruise ship passengers but the time in port is usually longer – between three to five days.

With as many as 5,000 personnel on a large aircraft carrier, larger vessels can provide an enormous injection of capital.

In May 2001, the Port of Townsville jointly a detailed economic impact analysis of a United States naval ship on the Townsville regional economy. The key findings were an average AUD$376 (€280) spend for each US Navy personnel per 24 hours. While the vessel was in port, personnel spent 71% in the city.

Based on a five-day stay, the study estimated that USS Essex with approximately 5,000 crew spent €4 million in North Queensland – and this in turn generated an €2 million in regional pay packets.

So Fenech’s estimate may not be entirely off the mark. Naval visits certainly have attractive benefits, but they also raise the question of whether Malta abides by its Constitutional maxim to “actively working for peace” when NATO ships engaged in military conflicts are welcomed.

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Jon Sciberras
What a ridiculous article, Philip Fenech, Tonio Fenech, the two stooges. Warships carry seamen, not all sailors are allowed off the ship. If you have 600 sailors on average who spend 200 euro each thats about 120,000. Don't forget these sailors only come ashore to drink and look for pleasant pastures. I doubt very much the figure is realistic, nonetheless they do leave money especially if they need refueling or buy to re-stock, but they don't do that here, they do that in Italy.
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This neutrality thing is total balls, we gave all that up when we joined the EU. besides whats wrong with having a military coming here for a rest we should welcome them with open arms. After all if anyone ever attacked us we would have no choice but to rely on other nations for help.
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Secondly, this article actually is about Naval Visits of all countries if one reads the entire article....it should be entitled "Do Naval Visits........?".
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If some of the responses showed a bit of original thought, and not a regurgitation of the anti-intellectual excesses of certain opposition party members of the past (and present) - they would be worthy of consideration.
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Firillu kbir, kemm inti bahnan. Il lum Malta diga ghanda 30 fil mija tat tfal qeghdin jitwieldu min ghajr iz zwieg. U hafna minhom suwed ukoll. Mela qieghed tghix fuq xi farm il bodghod u ma tafx x'qieghed jigra malta jew. Veru ghadek lura.
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Some maltese really live in fantasy land. Malta has been acting a base during the Liyban crisis. Every day we kept hearing of planes making emergency landing. That is total nonsense. Also, if we need help one day, who are you going to call. I don't think I need to say more.
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As long as our constitution is not changed we must stick faithfully to its clauses which unfortunately we seem not to be doing to the letter by stretching the interpretation of courtesy visits by naval units beyond even justitified humanitarian reasons. We should be wary of foreign military creep into the interpretation of our neutrality. Our neutrality in its spirit goes well beyond military visits and is aimed to project us as an icon of a peaceful and humanitarian nation. Let us remember that in many countries their military establishment often represent the jingoistic element within the foreign policy and political makeup of a nation and often military visits are a show of force not perhaps directed at a microscopic country like hours but aimed to demonstrate a regional strength and dominance to our neighbours or other competing powers . Of course some fine tuning to our neutrality may with general agreement be carried out in future which in my opinion should aim at h denying a military foothold to all not just to constitutionally ill-defined superpowers but at the same time relaxing to all nations the restriction of military visits in situations where obviously no belligerence is involved provided we do not grant any privileged immunities from prosecution or reparation for damages caused.
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Giovann.DeMartino għandek gosti sbieħ ukoll bil-bastimenti tal-gwerra u l-bgħula li jħallu l-baħrin warajhom!!!!!!!!! ** Pjaċir niedu meta jidħlu l-cruise liners mhux bastimenti tal-qerda.
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Firillu Kbir Ezatt sieħbi. L-Amerikani dejjem sabuhom ukoll l-aktar qammielin fid-dinja. Anki flixkun minerali iniżżlu magħhom.
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L-iktar li jhallu bghula u gonorrea.
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I never believe what GRTU states. It lost its credibility years ago. What price we have to pay letting military assets in our islands presently and in the future. Letting American military vessels in our ports never materialized in something concrete from the US. Well, the US at the moment is bankrupt. If we let military vessels and aircraft in Malta must be in extreme circumstances.
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Off course they don't leave that kind of money! Even if they spent that money, we would at most be reselling some other country's product. If you want to get to the true money that the US leaves in Malta - check the legal offices associated with ministries and the canvassors from the office of the prime minister and other PN scumbags for whom the US has found a use! Anyways the issue has nothing to do with money. The constitution says clearly that we are neutral. That means we are not anyone's brothel and we are putting the interest of the country first. You can't ignore the constitution no more than you can ignore the law that says drugs are illegal. Continuing on the example of drugs - if you want to be like Holland, change the law first. The meantime Gonzi's government has been caught committing yet another crime. In a democracy he would be out of a job and facing indictment. Its what the Americans would do if they caught their own president doing the same. My post is not anti-american. I respect their democracy which works a whole lot better than ours. Pity they do not respect our democracy, constitution and rule of law. What they did is shameful and not the act of a friendly country.
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Nispera li naraw hafna u hafna izjed minn dawn il-vapuri li mhux biss ihallu l-liri warajhom, imma wkoll isebbhu l-port.
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Mela l-miljuni saru qxur tal-karawett jew??? Jistghu tal-GRTU jispjegaw kif waslu ghal din ic-cifra sostanzjali permezz ta' breakdown serju u ddetaljat ta' l-infieq u spejjes li jaghmlu dawn il-vapuri? Perzwaz li hafna min dinl-informazzjoni ma hiex available bl-iskuza ta' konfidenzjalita' u sikkurezza. Ma nahsibx li l-bahrin ikollhom dawk il-kwantitajiet ta' flus x'jonfqu f'temp ta' ftit granet!
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Maybe now the USA wouli allow soviet warships to visit the US, their economy also needs a boost.