Stricken ship drifts in open seas as towline breaks in bad weather

The semi-submerged Maystar cargo vessel that was abandoned by its crew on Monday is drifting in the open seas after the towline of a tug boat that was pulling it towards Malta snapped.

The Malta Maritime Authority said "bad weather conditions" caused the towline to break at about 3.30 a.m. yesterday and, by the evening, the Cambodian registered 88-metre-long ship had drifted 29 miles east of Delimara. Navigational warnings were issued to inform all shipping of the presence of the drifting vessel, the authority said.

A spokesman said the MMA had no jurisdiction over the vessel once it was not within Malta's territorial waters that range 12 miles beyond the shores.

On Monday evening, the crew was brought ashore by the Armed Forces of Malta after the Maystar developed a fault in its ballast tanks. This caused the ship to list heavily to starboard and everybody abandoned ship 26 miles off Delimara. The ship, that was carrying wood, did not sink completely.

By Tuesday evening the Maystar had been towed to 13 nautical miles north-east off Grand Harbour but, till then, no request had been made for it to enter Maltese waters and its entry into port was subject to assessment.

As the vessel drifts, most if its 16 crew members returned to their homeland over the past two days.

Five Bangladeshi mariners boarded a plane home yesterday after the ship owner paid for their flights. They had spent two days at the Armed Forces of Malta's Maritime Squadron base in Haywharf until the authorities decided their fate.

Their 11 Indian fellow crew members were put up in a Valletta hotel until their departure after India's Consul to Malta, Yohan Cuschieri, intervened.

So far all the Indians, except for the captain and second engineer, have left Malta. The two will be departing in the next few days.

As the Bangladeshi Consul to Malta was abroad, Mr Cuschieri contacted the Indian High Commission in Tripoli to contact the Bangladeshi Embassy there to fund the Bangladeshis' flights. The embassy eventually contacted the ship owner who yesterday sent five electronic tickets to Malta.