An inquiry probing how a tanker managed to evade an arrest warrant last May has found no fault with the authorities’ handling of the embarrassing incident, arguing that they were asked to intervene late in the day.

The inquiry report, penned by retired Armed Forces Commander Carmel Vassallo, does not actually point fingers at anyone but develops a detailed timeline of events which concludes that the Valletta port authorities and the Armed Forces of Malta were left with very little room to manoeuvre.

“There were three hours in which the authorities – had they been notified in time – could have made sure the arrest warrant was executed,” the brigadier concluded.

The report, dated June 15, was released by the Office of the Prime Minister to The Sunday Times of Malta after a request was made last month. The inquiry was ordered by the Prime Minister after this newspaper revealed the incident on May 4.

Read more on The Sunday Times of Malta.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.