A sailor carries a young child after the ship berthed yesterday. Photos: Darrin Zammit Lupi

Scores of British nationals arrived in Malta yesterday on board a warship after they were evacuated from Libya, a country reeling in chaos.

The survey ship HMS Enterprise berthed in Grand Harbour carrying 110 Britons, including 30 children, 12 babies and four pregnant women. A handful of Irish and German workers were also on board.

A Libyan resident in Malta who had friends among the passengers told Times of Malta that the situation in Tripoli had degenerated badly and fighting was not limited to the airport area.

“Tripoli is dangerous and the warring parties have no regard for ordinary citizens,” Faud, 40, said.

Waiting on the quay to greet the families was British High Commissioner Rob Luke, who thanked all those involved in the operation.

He said no members of diplomatic staff were brought with the ship.

A number of Britons remained in Libya, he said, although they did not necessarily want to leave.

The UK authorities would keep all options open for their evacuation if necessary, he added. Mr Luke confirmed that the British embassy in Tripoli had suspended operations, adding there was crossfire close by in the past few days.

He would not comment when asked whether there was a direct security threat to the embassy and staff, as happened two weeks ago when the US pulled out its diplomatic corp.

The British Foreign Office said last week the embassy was being transferred to Tunisia.

The Enterprise was the second ship to evacuate workers and families from Libya to Malta.

A Virtu catamaran on Saturday evacuated some 250 Hyundai workers from Tripoli. Most were Filipino and Indian.

ksansone@timesofmalta.com