11:30pm Valletta fireworks display for new cruise liner leaves residents irked

A fireworks display in Valletta’s Grand Harbour late last night left many residents around the area irked and annoyed, with some taking to social media to express their displeasure.

At 11:30pm on Monday night, the fireworks rang out with such intensity and lack of coordination that some initially thought that a fireworks factory had exploded.

The display continued non-stop until around 11:45pm, and some who live close to the Grand Harbour area took to social media to share how they had been jolted awake by the surprise display.

Users even said that they had heard the display from as far away as Birkirkara, Attard, Rabat and Buġibba

Many questioned why such a display had to be made so late on a weeknight.

It transpires that the display in question was fired off a barge in the middle of the Grand Harbour to mark the christening of an American cruise liner: the Oceania Vista.

The first in a new Allura class, the 1,200-passenger vessel was handed over to Oceania Cruises at the Fincantieri shipyard in Genoa last week.

The 67,000-ton, 791-foot-long ship claims to offer the most spacious standard cabins at sea, together with three new dining concepts and a “market-leading” service ratio of two staff members for every three passengers.

Only a few cabins remain available for the inaugural summer season in the Mediterranean, according to the line.

Vista will then sail to Canada and New England before running a series of winter itineraries in the Caribbean, Mexico and Central America.

The ship was named by godmother, Italian-American chef, author, restaurateur and Emmy award-winning food personality Giada De Laurentiis, in Valletta.