Four police officers have been formally reprimanded over photos that emerged on Friday of bikini-clad women sunbathing on board police dinghies.

Disciplinary action in the form of a reprimand is being taken against four police officers, a spokeswoman for the Home Affairs Ministry told The Sunday Times of Malta.

“This was done to ensure a clear message is delivered and to take extra care to ensure that what seems to have happened in the last 10 years won’t be repeated next year,” she added.

The move follows a call by Home Affairs Minister Manuel Mallia for the Police Commissioner to provide an explanation about the incident which raised many eyebrows.

The photos showed a number of women sunbathing leisurely on two police rigid-hulled inflatable boats in Mellieħa Bay.

Police said on Friday that those pictured on the boats formed a group of German police officers on an “attachment programme” with the Maltese force, which has been taking place for the past 10 years.

Besides attending Police Day celebrations and learning about the force’s operations, the programme always included riding on a dinghy of the administrative law enforcement unit in the north of Malta.

“And as has always been the practice, if they wish, the officers are given the chance of swimming during their break,” the police spokesman said, adding that the published photos were taken during a break in their scheduled programme.

A police source who spoke to The Sunday Times of Malta said the problem in this case was that the women on board acted imprudently in a very public space. Previous trips of this nature did not make news because the boats were taken to more private locations and the police officers would stick to swimming during their break rather than sunbathing in their bikinis.