mediterranean

The Amerigo Vespucci and the smaller Bel Espoir (right) in Grand Harbour last weekend. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

The sea and the mission of unity

Reflections from Malta’s port

May 3, 2025| Regina Egle Liotta Catrambone
The Suez Canal. Photo: Shutterstock.com

Death from the Nile

We need to be more concrete to see our wide range of security needs and what investment they require

March 27, 2025| Ranier Fsadni
Rescuers working to resuscitate the seven-year-old girl. Photo: SOS Mediterranee/X.

Seven-year-old girl rescued at sea dies at Mater Dei, NGO says

The girl was among a group rescued from a boat in Malta's search and rescue zone

February 6, 2025| Times of Malta
While 18 people were rescued from the water, a child did not survive despite attempts at resuscitation, the NGO said. Photos: Sea Punks/Facebook.

Pregnant woman and injured man airlifted from shipwreck in Maltese SAR zone

NGO describes dramatic rescue

January 27, 2025| James Cummings
A rescue operation in March last year of migrants by the Ocean Viking rescue vessel in the Libyan search and rescue region in international waters. Photo: AFP

Crackdown slashes irregular crossings to EU in 2024: Frontex

Decrease partly driven by drop in arrivals through Central Mediterranean routes

January 14, 2025| AFP
Displaced Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip. Photo: AFP

A shared tomorrow?

There can be no peace and stability anywhere if the US, EU, Russia do not repair their relationship

November 15, 2024| Evarist Bartolo
Photo of Robert Abela: DOI - OPM

'Let's create sustainable jobs so people won't have to flee': Abela tells summit

PM urges EU to search for solutions to reduce irregular migration flow

October 11, 2024| Times of Malta
Prime Minister Robert Abela and Libyan Prime Minister Abd al-Hamid Dabaiba hold a press conference in Tripoli on July 16. Photo: AFP

When rival Libyan migration conferences vie for European engagement

European states know they need Libya's help to meet migration challenge

September 10, 2024| Rupert Horsley
Photo: Shutterstock

5 underwater fauna to spot while snorkelling in Malta

Caveat: If you’re lucky and all the thrash doesn’t kill everything off.

August 23, 2024| Antonella Gauci
The rescue vessel Sea-Eye 4 arrives in the port of Pozzallo, southern Sicily. AFP file photo.

Charity warns about Mediterranean migrant 'emergency'

Ship makes five rescues in 24 hours

July 9, 2024| AFP
Simon Zammit swimming round Gozo. Photo: Kurt Arrigo

‘The sea is everything that is good... we do not appreciate what we have’

Simon Zammit cannot fathom why people do not swim in the sea year-round

July 6, 2024| Fiona Galea Debono
The two water tanks at the Malta Film Studios in Kalkara. File photo

New Jurassic World movie will start shooting in Malta in July

Scarlett Johansson expected to be among lead actors

April 29, 2024| Mark Laurence Zammit
Ian Borg and Antony Blinken. Photo: MFET

US welcomes Malta's 'effective' OSCE leadership at 'very challenging time'

Foreign Affairs Minister Ian Borg met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington

April 17, 2024| Times of Malta
Telecom enterprises annually deploy 50,000 kilometres of fibre-optic cables, with scientists now seamlessly integrating essential oceanic sensors into these underwater networks. Photo: Getarchive

Revolution under the waves: the Mediterranean’s leap into smart ocean monitoring

Malta's location amplifies the potential impact of smart cable technology

March 17, 2024| Times of Malta
A snippet from the comic produced by Médecins Sans Frontières about last year’s fatal incident.

‘Left to drown’: Doctors Without Borders comic recounts 38-hour wait for help

'Malta, you saw a boat in that condition and gave us fuel. One young man died. I will never forget'

February 19, 2024| Sarah Carabott
A special pool where the remains of the 'Zambratija boat' - of a 3,000-year old hand-sewn boat, the oldest found in the Meditterranean Sea - are kept desalinating after being discovered in the waters of Zambratija Bay. Photo: AFP

Oldest hand-sewn boat in the Med has been saved from oblivion in Croatia

The 3,000-year-old boat was found in Zambratija

January 12, 2024| AFP
SoundTrap ST300 hydrophone (left) deployed on seafloor in Ċirkewwa (right).

Echoes beneath: mapping Malta’s underwater noise landscape

Study involved deploying an underwater noise logger at two different depths in two distinct Maltese locations

January 8, 2024| Alan Deidun and Adam Gauci
Maltese Olympic Committee president Julian Pace Bonello.

MOC president Pace Bonello handed 2030 Mediterranean Games appointment

Will head commission responsible for overseeing and supervising all preparations

December 14, 2023| Times of Malta
Nine Mediterranean countires sign a declaration focusing on prioritising a sustainable tourism sector, with a focus on digitialisation. Photo: DOI

Nine Mediterranean countries commit to making tourism more sustainable

Tourism ministers discuss the impact of climate change in Malta meeting

November 22, 2023| Giulia Magri
Aaron Farrugia unveiled the country's 'strategic visions' for superyachts on Tuesday Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

Transport minister wants more marinas to attract superyachts

Marsa envisaged as "superyacht hub" in strategic vision for industry

November 21, 2023| Daniel Ellul
Robert Abela, far right, with other European leaders. Photo: OPM

Malta proposes EU Commissioner for the Mediterranean

Robert Abela takes part in European leaders' meeting in Croatia

November 17, 2023| Times of Malta
Some NGO boats are operating questionably, European Council president Charles Michel said. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

Watch: Charles Michel has questions about some migration NGOs

European Council president discusses the thorny issue of migration

October 4, 2023| James Cummings
Many measures aimed at curbing illegal fishing in the Mediterranean exist only on paper. Bottom trawling drives significant depletion of fish stocks and threatens the livelihoods of small-scale fishers. Photo: Annie Lier/ Shutterstock

Mediterranean fish forever

Ministers meeting in Malta this week must end illegal bottom trawling, which would be a win-win for fish stocks and fishing communities

October 3, 2023| Aniol Esteban
Italy's prime minister Giorgia Meloni, Prime Minister Robert Abela and French President Emmanuel Macron. Photo: Jonathan Borg

MED9 leaders in Malta call for more EU action to stop migration at source

Statement calls for agreement on migration pact before end of legislative term

September 29, 2023| Jessica Arena
Pascual Navarro, Cyprus's Nikos Christodoulides, Antonio Costa, Giorgia Meloni, Charles Michel, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Robert Golob and Andrej Plenkovic in the EU-MED9 summit family photograph. Photo: Jonathan Borg

Watch: Mediterranean leaders meet in Valletta amid EU migration deal talks

The leaders of the 'MED9' meet for migration-focused summit

September 29, 2023| Jessica Arena, AFP
Challenges such as climate change must be turned into opportunities for the Mediterranean region by working together. Photo: Shutterstock.com

A mutually beneficial partnership

The EU’s southern neighbours must be treated as strategic partners

September 24, 2023| Robert Abela
The Malta Med9 Summit opens today. Photo:Shutterstock.com

Malta MED9 Summit: Fostering AI knowledge exchange

Artificial intelligence is no longer a futuristic concept

September 20, 2023| Silvio Schembri
Med9 country representatives led by Foreign Affairs Minister Ian Borg. Photo: DOI/Omar Camilleri

Med9 countries meet in Malta to discuss ‘engagement’ between EU and Africa

Discussions were held in Mdina with Med9 ministers and ambassadors

September 13, 2023| Daniel Tihn
A mound of seagrass (Posidonia oceanica) on a beach in the Maltese islands, teeming with life. Photo: Karen Fiorini (Malta Chamber of Scientists)

Communities and scientists work together to protect Malta’s sea

'Posidonia oceanica', known as 'alka', is not an alga but a flowering plant

August 20, 2023| Antónia Ribeiro
Bodies of migrants thought to have died after their boat sank off the coast of Libya lying on the beach east of Tripoli. Photo: Libyan Red Crescent / AFP

Syria to Libya to the EU: how people-smugglers operate

AFP interviews Syrian smugglers and migrants about the journey to the EU via migrant hub Libya

August 17, 2023| AFP