An operation to load an oil rig on a ship in St Paul's Bay had to be abandoned this afternoon because of a technical problem.

Transport Malta authorised and co-ordinated the operation which had to see the rig Ensco 85 on the heavy lift ship Xiang Rui Kou.

St Paul's Bay was chosen for the operation because of the weather conditions. To expedite and facilitate this operation, the ship was asked to anchor in place the previous day.

It was envisaged that the operation would take a couple of hours for loading and some six hours for securing the rig for the long ocean passage.

But the operation had to be abandoned due to a technical problem.

The rig was towed back to its previous berth in Marsa at the former Ship Building quay. The ship will also move to another anchorage further out to sea. At no point was there any emergency or pollution threat.

The operation was supported by local service providers Tug Malta which provided the towage services and the Malta Maritime Pilots which provided pilotage services.