The Finance Ministry has asked the court not to admit as evidence an internal inquiry report into damning claims of safety flaws on board Gozo Channel ferries.

Captain Mario Grech, who is suing the ferry line over its decision to suspend him after he made his claims in September, has asked for the findings to be used as evidence.

In a judicial application, the ministry made a forceful case before the Gozo courts for the report to be withheld. It insisted it was an internal report and a "privileged document", meaning classified. It pointed out that the document implicated third parties who had nothing to do with the case raised by the shipmaster.

When contacted by The Times, a ministry spokesman said the application, filed in court on Monday, was only made because the report had not been finalised and the ministry felt it should first be tabled in Parliament before being released in court.

When asked why the ministry asked not to release the report on the basis that it might harm third parties, given that it still planned to publish it in Parliament, the spokesman could only say that "the government filed the application because it wanted to protect its interests until the report was ready".

He added that, since Monday, the report had been finalised and would be tabled in Parliament shortly. However, the ministry would not withdraw the request not to have the report released in court until it was actually tabled.

The judicial application noted that publishing the report could implicate third parties who had nothing to do with the case and that publication "might hinder whatever action could be necessary on the part of the authorities" to follow the recommendations made.

The internal inquiry was launched in September, a day after Capt. Grech filed a judicial protest against the company, claiming, among other things, a lack of life-saving equipment and safety drills aboard the ferries and that a boatswain had been employed on the strength of forged qualifications. He also flagged the presence of the potentially deadly Legionella bacteria in the water supply of three ferries. Since September, the boatswain has been found guilty in court of forgery and the company's human resources manager is expected to be charged over the same issue.

Gozo Channel has fiercely defended itself on the Legionella and safety charges, insisting it had dealt with these issues before Capt. Grech filed his judicial protest.

Magistrate Anthony Ellul, who is presiding over the case, has still to decide on the Finance Ministry's request. He had asked the minister to confirm that the inquiry was concluded and to say whether the board of inquiry was set up in terms of law.