Malta's economy would totally collapse if an oil accident were to happen in the Mediterranean, according to Nature Trust.

The NGO yesterday called on the Maltese authorities and the EU to react to the risky oil drilling off the Libyan coast and immediately halt oil drilling projects in the Mediterranean.

Multinational company BP - responsible for a huge oil spilling disaster in the Gulf of Mexico - is planning to begin offshore drilling in Libya soon.

"The disaster happened in the Atlantic Ocean where tons of oil polluted the marine environment damaging not only marine biodiversity and eco systems for thousands of kilometres around the disaster site but also affected coast ecology and the economy of various states," Nature Trust said.

On the other hand, offshore drilling in the Mediterranean would pose a higher risk since the Mediterranean Sea is a small closed sea.

"Malta has so far been lucky when one considers the thousands of oil tankers that pass in the Sicily channel each year. We simply cannot afford to increase our risk factors when our biodiversity and economy are so fragile and at stake."