Find Freight, Shipping and Logistics expertise in Malta

Malta’s location in the centre of the Mediterranean Sea provides the country with a natural advantage in relation to ports and shipping, making it a regional maritime and logistics hub which continues to see investment in top-end facilities. The two main ports in the country are Valletta and Marsaxlokk, with the Malta Maritime Authority as the authority for both centres. Malta has become a transshipping hub, with large container vessels in Maltese ports disseminating goods to smaller vessels that relay the goods to a network of regional ports. A customs-free zone called Malta Freeport operates from Marsaxlokk, and is the largest cargo centre in the country. 95% of its traffic is transshipment, serving over 100 ports worldwide and with transshipping links to over 50 ports in the Mediterranean and Black Sea. In 2010, Malta Freeport handled almost 2.4 million TEUs. Malta also has the second largest ship register in the EU. With Marsaxlokk handling much of the cargo that had previously been dealt with in the Port of Valletta, the latter is developing its cruise, bunkering and roll-on/roll-off transhipment services. Additionally, Malta’s international airport operates flights to almost 40 countries, providing service for a large freight forwarding business. In 2009 Malta handled 7 million tonne-km, down from 12 million tonne-km in 2008. The World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index (2012) ranked Malta 41^st out of 155 countries in terms of infrastructure, with a value of 3.10 out of 5, below that of the average for its income group (high income non-OECD) – 3.32.

The country has traditionally had a significant trade deficit. Since joining the European Union it has been even more closely tied to its European trading partners, particularly Germany, France and the United Kingdom. There are numerous companies operating in air, sea and road freight in the country, both internationally and locally based. Prominent examples include the international companies Westward Freight Limited and Kuehne & Nagel (Malta) Ltd.

The ports in Malta provide a thriving industry for the numerous shipping agencies and freight forwarding companies. The international presence is strong, with the operation of freight forwarding firms such as Trans Al Limited and Triton.

In the World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index (2012) Malta ranked 43^rd out of 155 countries in terms of its overall logistics performance index, with a score of 3.16, which was 69% of the highest performer, Singapore. Each country is scored from one to five, with one being the worst performance in terms of logistics, infrastructure and customs amongst other categories. In relation to customs (49^th), logistics competence (45^th), and tracking and tracing (56^th), Malta scored below the average for a non-OECD high income economy country. In terms of international shipments (37^th) it received a value the same as the average, and in turns of timeliness (32^nd) it scored above, with a value of 3.79 compared to the non-OECD high income average of 3.67.