Police investigating the alleged hijacking of a Libyan boat are looking into the possibility that the ‘passengers’ on board the vessel were illegal immigrants.

Sources said the vessel, which comes regularly to Malta to collect a consignment of fresh fish to transport to Libya, could have been carrying 16 irregular migrants of different nationalities.

The Armed Forces said in a statement the refrigeration boat was escorted to Malta by the army after its crew reported the vessel had been hijacked just outside Maltese territorial waters.

The AFM said the Benghazi II crew reported via a radio message that it was being taken over by the 16 people on board.

The army said its patrol boats approached the 20-metre vessel which was 20 nautical miles east of Malta and “negotiated the disembarkation of the passengers, before boarding and securing the ship”.

The AFM said the boat’s captain and the other two members of crew were detained in the ship’s engine room for some time.

One of the crew members of the boat was slightly injured. He was administered first aid and taken to Malta on board a patrol boat.

The Benghazi II was escorted to Malta by two AFM patrol boats and all passengers and crew were handed over to the police for further investigations. No further details were given.

An army spokesman could not confirm whether the people on board the vessel were illegal migrants trying to gain access to mainland Europe through Malta, the southern-most European Union member state.

However, sources said police were looking into this possibility since it was not normal for such a vessel to carry so many people on board.

There has been a drastic drop in illegal immigrant crossings since 2009 following a controversial patrol deal signed between Libya and Italy.