Subsea Gozo-Malta tunnel has PM’s endorsement, says Gozo chamber

An 11-km underground tunnel located 100 metres below sea level has been proposed in a report on the viability of a Gozo-Malta tunnel link by the Gozo Business Chamber together with Transport Malta.

The €250 million project was described by GBC president Michael Grech as enjoying the prime minister’s endorsement. “He is determined to see the project through,” Grech claimed of Joseph Muscat in comments to newspaper Illum.

The report also claims that there is interest from a Norwegian company that has already built a subsea tunnel connecting the Norwegian mainland to the island of Hitra.

Grech opined that after geophysical studies are carried out, the project could easily be finished in five years, and hazarded that a private-public partnership could see the tunnel operated on a 65-year lease.

According to the four options presented to TM and the Gozo chamber by Jaspers, the Maltese would have chosen a 9.2km tunnel that passes beneath Comino, with a point of entry and exit in Mellieha, and Mgarr in Gozo.