Some €44,000 worth of “basic necessities” to be bought from donations by the public will be sent to Libya soon, according to Patrick Murgo, director of the Civil Protection Department.

“We have seen where they are needed most. Misurata is one place but there are others that also require these items,” he said.

The CPD launched a bank account soon after the crisis erupted to raise funds to deliver aid to Libya. It has managed to clock up about €44,000 worth of donations.

It is in the process of making contact with other organisations, including the World Food Programme, to try to establish which routes are already in use to deliver items to Libya.

The CPD is buying the items at the moment, including food, water and medicine, Mr Murgo said.

“Hopefully, within a couple of weeks we’ll get them sorted and sent out,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Setubal Express, a ship that left Malta on Tuesday and was prohibited from entering Libya due to suspicious cargo, remained outside Libyan waters yesterday, five days after it was intercepted by the British Navy, a government spokesman said.

The government has written to the UN Sanctions Committee and asked for its urgent direction on the matter.

It has not yet determined what the irregularities that prohibited the ship from entering Libyan waters were, the spokesman said.