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Finally, some Sicily photos. I have been processing the many shots I took on our one-day excursion to Sicily. It was actually a cultural tour and a very enjoyable one. I have chosen a few shots which I will be posting in the next few days.
This is the catamaran, Jean de la Valette, which took us to the closest port to Malta, Pozzallo. The time is around 3.00 am.
Launched in April 2010, Jean de la Valette is a high-speed, all-weather passenger catamaran ferry owned by Virtu Ferries. It is claimed to be the largest vessel of its kind operating in the Mediterranean. The ferry was built by Austal in Australia under a contract awarded by Virtu Ferries in April 2009.
Jean de la Valette is capable of shipping 156 cars, or 45 cars and 342m of truck lanes. The vessel can accommodate 800 passengers and 24 crew members. It is designed to operate at a speed of 38.5kts. It makes two trips daily from Malta to Pozzallo in Sicily and back. Each (one way) trip takes 1hr 30 min.
During its delivery trip from Australia to Malta in September 2010, the vessel managed to outrun pirates. Virtu Ferries reported that the incident occurred when the vessel entered the Red Sea through Bab El Mandeb. Pirate skiffs tried to chase, but gave up due to the high speed of the vessel.
Thank you very much for looking and for lovely comments on yesterday’s picture.
