The quest for Atlantis continues – this time aboard a Russian luxury yacht that is sailing the seas in search of the lost civilisation, carrying researchers, scientists and TV crews to contending countries.

Running On Waves, which is travelling “the routes of Europe in search of Atlantis”, has just spent 24 hours in Malta on its two-month maiden voyage before being chartered for luxury cruises.

But its first guests are not into sunbathing and sipping cocktails; they are busy discussing the various theories behind the legendary island first mentioned in Plato’s dialogues.

The president of the Russian Atlantis Society, AlexanderVoronin, and Anton Mifsud, who has been researching the subject for 13 years, exchanged hypotheses on board.

Mr Voronin said Atlantis was the “most important secret of the history of man” but admitted it would be hard to reach a conclusion on the complicated issue. The theory that Malta was Atlantis was accepted by many, he said.

The Malta leg, which ended yesterday, was supported by the Malta Tourism Authority, which organised tours to the megalithic temples, the National Museum of Archaeology and the cart ruts for a first-hand feel of what the researchers and journalists have been studying.

The voyage, the MTA said, served to promote Malta in another light, with a focus on its historical and mythological aspects.