Updated at 9.45am - Added marine biologist's comments

A video has been posted to Facebook in a bid to create awareness about the damage being done to local reefs by ships' anchors.

The video, posted on 'Raniero's Adventures - Live Life' page, was shot to prove that several ships were throwing their anchors at is-Sikka l-Bajda at 20 metres, along with 200 metres of chain, destroying the largest reef in Malta.

It shows a diver pointing to the heavy chain that is dragging everything in its way and damaging the seabed.

A shallow reef supporting the protected Neptune grass Posidonia oceanica, is-Sikka l-Bajda is also one of the largest local bunkering zones in Maltese waters.

Neptune grass is protected under EU and national legislation as a priority habitat meadows, said marine biologist Alan Deidun. 

This brought it into direct conflict with the negative environmental impacts of bunkering, namely arising from anchoring and crabbing.

Anchoring, he said, created patches of destroyed seagrass within the meadows while crabbing resulted from the dragging of anchors along the seabed.

Is-Sikka l-Bajda was mainly used as a bunkering zone in westerly winds since it is sheltered and bunkering is an important economic sector for the islands.

Prof. Deidun said that the impacts of this had already been highlighted within the environmental impact study conducted on the proposed offshore wind farm for Is-Sikka l-Bajda in 2011-2012.

The wind farm proposal had been turned down by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority on environmental grounds.

“I am informed that Transport Malta is, in the coming weeks, considering the re-designation of the bunkering zone at is-Sikka l-Bajda so as to restrict such ecological damage on site, while allowing bunkering activities to be conducted within the same area," Prof. Deidun said.

He noted that the site was located within the north-east 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 currently conducting further research on the environmental impact of bunkering through a remotely operated vehicle survey it recently conducted within local waters.