Unauthorised men took over a Maltese-flagged ship in a Libyan port yesterday and sailed it out towards Greece, Transport Malta confirmed.

British media have reported that British and Irish aid workers who were taking aid to Gaza are being held captive on board.

Transport Malta said the Malta National Maritime Security Committee is monitoring developments on board the MV Strofades IV, a Maltese registered ship managed in Greece.

The ship (a roll-on, roll-off cargo vessel) was allegedly boarded by a group of men at the port of Darnah in Libya, east of Benghazi.

The ship was sailed out to international waters and it is now heading towards Greek territorial waters.

British media reported earlier yesterday that volunteers on the Road to Hope convoy, an independent humanitarian group that takes aid to Gaza, were taken out to sea after a row with the Greek captain over a payment.

“We have lost telephone contact with those who are still on the ship against their will – without any paperwork, passports or authority to leave Libya, possessions or, when we last heard, food or water,” a spokesman was quoted as saying.

The ship is now in international waters, where it has been surrounded by Libyan navy ships and two fighter jets, according to the reports.