Transport Malta is considering a number of measures aimed at protecting the reef at the Sikka l-Bajda from being further damaged by ships’ anchors, the Times of Malta has learnt.
Sikka l-Bajda is a reef located about 1.5 kilometres from Il-Ponta ta’ l-Aħrax, Mellieħa, to the north of the island.
“Transport Malta notes all concerns in this regard. The authority is assessing a change in the current layout to help safeguard the reef while maintaining a bunkering zone in the area,” a spokesman for Transport Malta said.
The problem was flagged several months ago but surfaced again recently when a video was posted on Facebook in a bid to raise awareness about the damage being done to local reefs by ships’ anchors.
WATCH: Ships' anchors are destroying Malta's largest reef
The video was shot to prove that several ships were lowering their anchors at Sikka l-Bajda at 20 metres, along with 200 metres of chain, destroying the largest reef in Malta. The footage shows a diver pointing to the heavy chain dragging everything in its way and damaging the seabed.
The authority is assessing a change in the current layout
A shallow reef supporting the protected Neptune grass, Posidonia Oceanica, Sikka l-Bajda is also one of the largest bunkering zones in Maltese waters.
Neptune grass is protected under EU and national legislation as a priority habitat meadows.
Marine biologist Alan Deidun said the footage documented the negative environmental impacts of bunkering arising from anchoring and crabbing.
Anchoring, he said, caused patches of destroyed seagrass within the meadows while crabbing resulted from the dragging of anchors along the seabed. Sikka l-Bajda was mainly used as a bunkering zone in westerly winds since it was sheltered. Bunkering was an important economic sector for the islands.
Prof. Deidun said the impact from ships’ anchors had already been highlighted in the environmental impact study that had been done in connection with a proposed offshore wind farm there in 2011-2012.
The wind farm proposal had been turned down on environmental grounds by what was at the time the Malta Environment and Planning Authority.
Prof. Deidun noted that the site was located within the northeast marine protected area, for which a management plan still had to be drafted. “This should ideally be done within the framework of a more comprehensive marine spatial plan for the entire Maltese territorial waters,” he said.
The university’s Department of Geosciences is conducting further research on the environmental impact of bunkering through a remotely-operated vehicle.