Augusta mayor complains of port authority’s inefficiency in Ponte-Virtù debacle

The mayor of the Sicilian port town of Augusta, Giuseppe Di Mare, has questioned the role of the region’s port authority ADSP, after stopping the departure of the new Maltese ferry service Ponte over a rival bid by competitor Virtù Ferries

The mayor of the Sicilian port town of Augusta, Giuseppe Di Mare, has questioned the role of the region’s port authority ADSP, after stopping the departure of the new Maltese ferry service Ponte over a rival bid by competitor Virtù Ferries.

The Ponte ferry service connecting Valletta to Augusta, near Catania, was stopped at the eleventh hour over a bid by Virtù, which connects Pozzallo to Valletta, to also obtain a departure slot from the port.

But Augusta mayor Di Mare and councillor Tania Patania have complained that the port authority ADSP was preventing Augusta from having its own maritime connection to Maltese tourism.

“It is legitimate for us to question the role of the ADSP and its ability to assess such private initiatives that benefit us collectively... this cavalier behaviour truly risks the economic revival of eastern Sicily and Augusta.”

The councillors called on the ADSP to employ a more objective and standardised concession system that allows ferry services to bring over more tourism to Augusta.

Ponte Ferries this week said it was forced to delay the launch of its fast ferry service to Sicily due to a legal challenge by Virtù Ferries, which objected to the company’s use of the Augusta Port and is trying to get its own concession from the port authorities of Augusta and Catania.

Ponte Ferries said the objector had submitted a contestation at the “eleventh hour” over the use of the berthing area in Augusta that Ponte had applied for last November.

But the claim was denied by Virtù Ferries. “Ponte Ferries have once again had to delay their ferry service, no doubt causing their clients much angst. This time they are seeking to conceal from their responsibility by seeking to shift the blame on Virtù Ferries, alleging that we have made a last-minute legal challenge. Virtù Ferries made no such, or indeed any other, challenge,” the company said in a statement.

Virtù said it has applied for berthing facilities at the Port of Augusta and the respective applications are yet to be approved.

“Mindful of time required and unlike our competitors we refrained from selling tickets for this route, and we will not sell until such time as our permit is approved. In contrast, our competitors have, since 23 June, been selling tickets to the public in the knowledge that they were not in a position to guarantee the service they were selling,” Virtù said.