Three Egyptian sailors accused of conspiring to illegally traffic fuel were acquitted by a magistrate's court today. 

Moustafa Adel Kamal Elnashshar, Ahmed Adel Kamal Elnashshar and Zakarya Hussein Abdou El Zahed had been charged with the conspiracy after they and their captain had been arrested while the vessel they were on was outside Maltese territorial waters.

The court, presided by magistrate Antonio Micallef Trigona, heard how on May 5, 2013 at around 7.00am the Maltese-registered fishing boat, MV Dimitra, had set sail from Marsaxlokk headed towards Lampedusa with eight 1,000 litre tanks filled with water on board.

Four days later, the Dimitra was intercepted some 22 nautical miles away from Malta by members of the Maltese armed forces who searched the vessel and found nine containers of diesel on deck.

A court-appointed expert had testified that all the fuel retrieved from the MV Dimitra, including that in its tank, could not have been obtained from Maltese distributors, the latter being distinguishable by its red colour and particular markers.

The court observed that in their statements, the three accused men had admitted that the diesel had been pumped aboard while the vessel was at sea.

The court, however, noted that there was not "even the slightest proof" that the men had conspired to traffic fuel in an illegal manner.

The fact that the diesel was found on board did not, in itself, constitute an offence. Moreover, the court remarked, the vessel had been intercepted outside Maltese territorial waters, crossing the contiguous zone which was not subject to Maltese customs, excise and VAT laws.

The court acquitted the accused of all the charges in their regard.

Inspector Doriette Cuschieri prosecuted. Lawyer Arthur Azzopardi was defence counsel.