Malta defends search and rescue record

Malta’s conduct during search and rescue operations and their coordination have always been in fullest adherence to International Maritime Law, the government said yesterday.

The statement was made after an Italian NGO filed a report to the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice, asking them to investigate Malta’s failures to adhere to international maritime rules over SAR.

On Sunday, Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni reported Malta to the EU for failing to send its assets to rescue a sinking boat of 209 migrants over the weekend.

However, the government yesterday stuck to its position about this boat, saying Malta’s Rescue Coordination Centre complied with the standard SAR rules and procedures by assuming coordination of the response.

“The government of Malta serenely awaits any formal communication from the entities mentioned earlier to be in a position to answer in full and state the facts in detail,” it said.

The government would prove that throughout this incident Malta acted in the interest of the persons aboard the vessel in distress, it said, giving a blow by blow account of the incident.

On receiving the initial report, the vessel in question was located some 51 nautical miles (NM) south-south-west of Lampedusa, 44 NM from Tunis, and 129 NM southwest of Malta.

In order to ensure a timely response, the local rescue centre contacted those in the closest proximity of the reported distress call, namely the Tunisian and Italian authorities.

This step was also taken in light of the obligation incumbent upon every state party to cooperate in the conduct of SAR operations as laid out in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, it said.

Considering this scenario, a direct response by Maltese surface assets would have required at least 10 hours to reach the area, yet all the necessary arrangements were made just in case, the government said.

The Tunisian rescue centre said no Tunisian assets were available in that area while the Italian counterpart responded by confirming the availability of assets in the vicinity of the distress location.

“Subsequently, in the customary spirit of close collaboration, Italian assets were deployed from the nearby island of Lampedusa to respond to the distress case,” the government said.

Their vicinity to the incident position enabled a timelier rescue operation. All persons aboard the distressed craft were rescued and they disembarked in the nearest place of safety, which in this case was the island of Lampedusa.

In a subsequent statement the goverment pointed to a similar mission on Monday, this time a boat carrying no fewer than 906 migrants, including 200 women and 100 children.

This group landed in Sicily late on Monday after a Maltese patrol boat reached the vessel, which, however, was in no distress and in calm seas.

The patrol vessel remained in the vicinity to provide assistance, if required, to the boat carrying sub-Saharan migrants which had left from Misurata. On Monday afternoon, when the vessel was about one mile outside Italian territorial waters, the boat was intercepted and boarded by Italian officials, who escorted the migrants to Sicily.