The armed forces yesterday intercepted a boat from Libya in Maltese territorial waters in an incident that remained unexplained last night.

Two AFM patrol boats were seen alongside the vessel about one kilometre off Delimara in the evening and a dinghy was at one point seen circling it. Witnesses described it as looking like a tugboat. Sources said the AFM boarded the vessel to establish who it was carrying and why it had headed for Malta.

Only a handful of people were said to be on board.

The dinghy was later seen leaving the vessel and a patrol boat also left the scene heading in the dirction of the Freeport. But the mysterious boat remained ­stationery out at sea accompanied by the other patrol boat.

One source said the boat was thought to have been travelling between the cities of Tripoli and Benghazi along the Libyan coastline when it veered towards Malta.

According to other sources, it had set out from Tripoli but none of this information could be verified last night. Neither the AFM nor the police released any details about the incident before The Times went to press.

What is sure is that this was not one of the usual, rather rickety immigrants’ boats that the AFM have now become accustomed to assisting and Malta to receiving in its ports.