ABOUT SAVE OUR SHORES
The Save Our Shores (SOS) campaign exposes the environmental and social consequences of Malta’s expanding cruise liner, marina, and shipping industries, and advocates for a future where coastal communities and marine biodiversity are prioritised over unsustainable development.
As Europe’s largest ship registry and a major cruise liner destination, Malta faces increasing pressures from maritime activities. Cruise liners, superyachts, and other large vessels contribute to air, noise, and marine pollution, while proposals for luxury marinas and private yachting facilities threaten public access to the coast and place additional pressure on local communities.
The campaign documents the impacts of the maritime industries on the local communities through the photography of Darrin Zammit Lupi and Julian Delia’s research.
Friends of the Earth Malta’s Save Our Shores brought together residents of harbour and coastal localities in community assemblies, where people discussed issues and solutions. Together, we co-created a set of political demands for a petition to demand public access to coast and sea, protection from pollution, and restoration of coastal ecosystems
01
DEMAND 1
Protect public access to Malta’s coast and sea by fully implementing the 2016 Public Domain Act, preventing further privatisation, enforcing action against illegal encroachments, and ensuring meaningful consultation with coastal communities.
02
DEMAND 2
Publish transparent data on air, noise, and marine pollution from maritime activities, accelerate shore-to-ship power connections by 2030, enforce emissions regulations, and strengthen protections for coastal ecosystems.
03
DEMAND 3
Protect, restore, and rewild coastal and marine ecosystems by preserving undeveloped areas, expanding protected zones, and implementing strict management measures to safeguard biodiversity and climate resilience.
WE CAN BRING CHANGE FOR OUR COMMUNITIES AND ENVIRONMENT
Together, we ask to Save Our Shores, for the common good, not the wealthy few.
ENDORSED BY
RECLAIMING PUBLIC SPACES, FROM COMMUNITY MEETINGS TO THE EXHIBITION
Valletta and Floriana Community Assembly, September 2025.
Gozo Community Assembly, October 2025
Manoel Island Community Assembly in collaboration with Manoel Island: Post Għalina campaign, May 2025
Save Our Shores exhibition, 12 June 2026
Save Our Shores exhibition, 12 June 2026
Save Our Shores exhibition, 12 June 2026
JULIAN DELIA’S RESEARCH ARTICLES ON TIMES OF MALTA
Malta’s maritime industry is highly lucrative. Growing ship registries, profits generated in ship servicing, and rising cruise-liner passengers all contribute to ballooning economic growth statistics, making the sector especially attractive to politicians seeking to burnish their economic credentials with voters.
Our research shows that, over the past seven years, the Southern Harbour district was by far the most severely affected region in Malta in terms of respiratory illnesses. The Southern Harbour district consists of the 14 towns in and around the Grand Harbour area.
A crowded port dropping off never-ending streams of cruiseliner tourists and a public ferry system which shuttles people to and from Gozo have led to the additional hassle of gridlocked road networks in towns that were never designed to be able to withstand high traffic volumes.
Palumbo Shipyard and cruise liners
Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi
Cruise ships pollution, Azura and Norwegian Epic (and Moon), Friend of the Earth Malta
Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi
Photos around Marsascala and Birzebbuga for Friends of the Earth Malta
Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi
Photos around Marsascala and Birzebbuga for Friends of the Earth Malta
Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi
WANT TO JOIN THE CAUSE?
contact us on climate@foemalta.org
SUPPORTED BY
foemalta.org