Saturday, August 16, 2008

Malta - Sicily




From Malta you can take daily trips to the Island of Sicily either by air or by sea. Here are two shots of a catamaran's daily trip returning from Sicily. This Catamaran has been operating high speed ferries between Malta and Sicily since 1988. The Maria Dolores, 600 passengers; 65cars/trucks/caravans/coaches/trailers, makes over 500 round trips every year between Valletta and Pozzallo (90 minute) and Catania (3 hours) effectively making Malta part of mainland Europe.
A catamaran is a type of multihulled ship consisting of two hulls joined by a frame, formed of Akas. Catamarans can be sail- or engine-powered. The catamaran was first discovered being used by the paravas, a fishing community in the southern coast of Tamil Nadu, India. Catamarans were used by the ancient Tamil Chola dynasty as early as the 5th century AD for moving their fleets to invade such Southeast Asian regions as Burma,Indonesia and Malaysia.

2 comments:

marie6 said...

Very interesting! I like the night shots.

Anonymous said...

It's great to be able to show night life, and a little easier these days with a digital camera!