(Adds ship owners' statement)

The government, which is being held responsible after a Turkish ship ‘escaped’ from Maltese territorial waters last Friday, was yesterday asked to pay thousands of euros in damages to a fuel supplier.

The Times of Malta is informed that Cassar Fuel Limited, a private company that supplied €42,415 worth of fuel to the MV Feyza Genc, is holding Transport Malta responsible for the departure.

Last week, the company successfully obtained a court order for the seizure of the vessel. However, notwithstanding the court’s decree, which, by law, has to be executed by Transport Malta, the ship lifted anchor and sailed out without encountering any resistance, shipping industry sources said.

Speaking to the Times of Malta, a spokesman for Cassar Fuel said the company could not understand how a court order could be so easily defied, adding that the company was now seeking damages from Transport Malta.

“We have now filed a judicial protest so that the government agency will pay damages,” the spokesman said.

Questions sent to Transport Malta over this incident were not answered at the time of writing.

This is the third such incident in the span of a year, during which arrest warrants issued by the court were defied by merchant ships in Maltese waters.

We have now filed a judicial protest so that the government agency will pay damages

In April 2014, the MV Atlantik was issued with an arrest warrant over €900,000 in dues to a Liberian-registered company.

However, as soon as the captain got wind of the court order, the vessel sailed out. The Armed Forces of Malta said that they had no means to monitor the ship because they were engaged elsewhere.

The same happened in August 2014, this time involving the MV Madra. The ship owed about €220,000 to two companies, including to Cassar Fuel.

Despite two arrest warrants, the ship’s captain switched off the vessel’s tracking system, lifted the anchor and sailed away before the AFM could intercept it.

Following the first incident involving the Atlantik, the government ordered an inquiry to make sure such incidents, which impact Malta’s reputation as a serious shipping jurisdiction, would not be repeated.

Although the government inquiry, published in August 2014, absolved the responsible authorities, particularly Transport Malta and the AFM, it made recommendations to avoid another “embarrassing incident”.

COMPANY SAYS BILL HAS BEEN PAID

In a statement this evening, the ship owners said they paid Cassar Fuel in time but said the ship was arrested as the supplier claimed that the bill was unpaid.

The owners said their attempts to contact Global Bunkers Ltd about the situation were unsuccessful.

"Despite all our efforts to prove our innocence, Cassar Fuels refused to listen us and forced the owners to pay the bill again to release the vessel"

They said that the attempted arrest was "malicious and unrightful".

"We are a good, trustful company with a good reputation on the market. We keep all our rights reserved and will take necessary legal steps about this arrest."

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