[WATCH] Negotiations with maritime hub developer concluded

Negotiations with maritime hub developer concluded

Ablecare Oilfield Services Group, the preferred bidder for the development of the former Malta Shipbuilding site, officially announced the initial investment of €55 million into the Mediterranean Maritime Hub.

The project to revamp the port area in the south of the island is set to create 150 quality jobs in the next 18 months, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat announced.

The development of a maritime hub is one of the first initiatives announced by the Labour government in its first budget.

Presiding over the conclusion of negotiations with Ablecare, Muscat expressed his satisfaction in seeing the project being led by Maltese businessmen.

“I am so proud that the best proposal came through the domestic industry. It is an innovative venture which I hope will rekindle the trade and skills that have gone missing from our local economy,” the Prime Minister said.

He said, that investors complained on two fronts: “There aren’t enough people looking for a job – which is also a good sign because it means that the rate of unemployment is going down – but we are also lacking in the traditional trade we were once so renowned for.”

Muscat said he hoped that the Mediterranean Hub will rekindle enthusiasm for such trade and skills amongst youths.

As part of the project, Ablecare also invested in a training academy. The first graduations took place last year in April.

Economy Minister Chris Cardona argued that the project – as soon as it is approved by parliament – will strengthen Malta’s role as a maritime centre of excellence in the Mediterranean.

“This site, which has been abandoned for decades, is the last industrial site that touches our shores. The government recognised and evaluated the significance of such a site and we wanted to maximise its potential,” Cardona said, adding that the project was one of several that make up the government’s economic strategy.

The economy mister said the island had lost multiple opportunities to augment the maritime industry.

“The Maritime Hub is both an extension of our traditional craft and part of the future of garnering positive economic results for our country.”

Ablecare chairman chairman Paul Abela and Stephen Colville, CEO of the Mediterranean Maritime Hub, spoke of the maritime hub’s potential in providing a premier operational support base for the oil and gas industry in the Mediterranean region and beyond.

The hub will operate as “a white label facility”: where client companies can use it according to their own individual and specific needs.