Valletta’s port authority waited an hour before raising the alarm about a 60,000-ton oil tanker that slipped out of Maltese territorial waters to evade arrest, The Sunday Times of Malta has learnt.
The MT Atlantik steamed out of territorial waters unchallenged on May 3, undermining Maltese authorities and the country’s reputation in the maritime industry.
The Marshall Islands’ flagged vessel was bunkering off St Paul’s Bay when it was slapped with an arrest warrant by the Maltese courts.
But according to documentation seen by The Sunday Times of Malta, rather than raising the alarm straight away with the Armed Forces of Malta, the Valletta Ports Vessel Traffic Service – an arm of Transport Malta – ordered the vessel to drop anchor.
The arrest warrant reached port authorities at 7.27pm but the AFM were only asked to intercept the vessel an hour later, at 8.25pm, 10 minutes after the tanker left Maltese territorial waters.
During this time, the Valletta authority kept trying to contact the captain but he had shut down communication and allowed the vessel to drift closer to the border before pushing out of Maltese jurisdiction.
The situation was compounded by the fact that the AFM was stretched at that point in time. The two patrol boats in service on the night were deployed, one in a search and rescue operation to the south of Malta and the other with a fireworks display that was taking place at the Grand Harbour to mark the 10th anniversary since Malta joined the EU.
‘Clearly, there were a series of problems at play’
An industry source pointed out that had a patrol boat been dispatched earlier, it would have been within its right to keep chasing the vessel, even in international waters, as long as the pursuit started within Malta’s borders.
“Clearly, there were a series of problems at play that all contributed to this disastrous outcome, but some of these issues are chronic really, and I hope that they will be addressed after this incident,” the source said.
The information is being examined as part of an independent inquiry ordered by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat in the wake of the embarrassing incident.
Some of these issues are chronic, and I hope they will be addressed
Former AFM Commander Carmel Vassallo is heading the inquiry board and is expected to deliver his findings by June 16.
Opposition spokesman Jason Azzopardi was very vocal about the incident, demanding to receive a detailed account of how the ship was allowed to leave unchallenged.
“How can the army guarantee that no smuggling of drugs is taking place if it is not able to prevent a tanker from escaping,” he had asked.
Maritime lawyers had also voiced concern about the damage such incidents could do to Malta’s international reputation.
The warrant of seizure against the Atlantik was issued after the court on May 3 accepted an application filed by lawyer John Refalo on behalf of Shannon SA, a Liberian-registered company.
Shannon had entered into an agreement to buy the tanker but the sellers changed their minds and entered into commercial arrangements with third parties for the use of the vessel.
The two sides eventually signed a new agreement through which Shannon was meant to receive the deposit back and compensation of around €650,000 for losses suffered when it did not get delivery of the ship.
Shannon claimed the deposit was paid back but the compensation remained unpaid, and asked the court to issue a warrant of seizure on the ship during its brief stop in Malta.
mmicallef@timesofmalta.com