After spending three weeks impounded in Tripoli, the MV Azzurra entered the Grand Harbour yesterday with its Turkish captain relieved that the “hard” experience was finally over.
“During this time we stayed in the port but at last we are in Malta … My contract withthe ship is over now … I miss my wife and I’m going back to Turkey,” the 30-year-old skipper, Engin Ozbek, said soon after stepping ashore in Malta.
The Maltese-chartered ship had been in Libya since mid-April when the authorities there impounded the ship on the basis of allegations made by Libyan trading tycoon Hosni Bey.
It will now start plying the Libya route again, carrying cargo from Malta to a Libya trying to get back on its feet after its debilitating revolution last year.
In a letter sent to Libyan authorities, Mr Bey claimed the ship was being used to bring smuggled goods into the country. However, no illegal items were found aboard.
The vessel was released following meetings between the Maltese and Libyan governments and left on Wednesday afternoon. Three Maltese members of the ship’s international crew had flown out to Malta last week, while a Maltese-Australian man arrived with the rest of his crewmates, mostly Turks, yesterday.
Mr Ozbek explained how on arriving in Tripoli, Libyan officials had boarded the ship on suspicion it was carrying smuggled goods.
“It was very hard … some soldiers came on board and took me and the chief officer to the police centre and they asked us questions,” he told The Times.
The two men were detained for two days and were treated well, he said.
But although they were then released, their ship was detained. During the three weeks the crew went about carrying out maintenance works on the vessel.
“We were given permission to get out and we went to the city centre,” he said.
Karm Borg, financial controller of the Zammit Group that operates the ship, said he hoped the company would not go through the experience ever again.
“It was not a pleasant experience to have a ship stuck for reasons only they know. The ship is a carrier and had no fault (for the contents).
“They found nothing after inspecting the ship and interrogating the captain and chief officer. The situation was difficult,” he said.
He said each trip carried cargo worth between €2 million and €2.5 million in pro-ducts mostly bought in Malta. There was a local added value of some 20 to 25 per cent, some €800,000 per trip. These losses, he said, had had an impact on many businesses in Malta.
Mr Borg said the vessel was expected to start operating today and thanked the Maltese government for its support.
He did not believe the Azzurra was detained for any political reasons as the relationship between the two countries seemed good.