The Armed Forces are in a better position to monitor Malta’s search and rescue area with its King Air maritime patrol aircraft and new patrol boats, according to Colonel Emmanuel Mallia.
He said the AFM had also invested heavily in sophisticated equipment to coordinate search and rescue missions.
“Italy normally asks us for assistance. Last Friday’s rescue [of 246 immigrants], for example, began in Libya’s search and rescue area but since Libya does not have the means, we took over as the controlling authority until the migrants were in distress, then the rescue operation began,” he said.
Col Mallia, who leads the AFM operations, plans and intelligence section, was briefing the media after the army recently took part in two Frontex missions, which provided “invaluable training” for Maltese soldiers.
Its King Air aircraft was used for the first time during this joint operation, Indalo, held in Malaga, Spain between May and October.
Indalo is a Frontex-coordinated border control operation covering the maritime approaches to Spain in the Mediterranean Sea. They conducted anti-human smuggling patrols between Spain, Algeria and Morocco.
Col Mallia said the AFM aircrews flew for an average of four hours a day throughout October, making use of the aircraft’s modern radar, infrared and heat detection equipment to find their targets and coordinate operations.
The aim of the operation was targeting small objects, including boats carrying illegal migrants and those being used to smuggle drugs.
Major George Abela, the King Air pilot who took part in the operation, said that one of the searches yielded around 800kg of cannabis, which was being smuggled into Spain from Morocco. “The AFM played a crucial role in helping detect a number of small boats carrying migrants and also helped save migrants who risked drowning,” he said.
This exercise followed another operation called Poseidon, patrolling a section of the land border between Turkey and Greece, also against human trafficking.
Around 42 Maltese soldiers, mostly from the AFM’s ‘C’ Company, participated in this Frontex operation.
Col Mallia said such operations helped the AFM sharpen its skills and improve coordination with other military services.