The Maltese authorities always investigated reports of fuel smuggling from Libya, Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Abela said.
However, he refrained from commenting on a case flagged in a recent UN report that linked Libyan mastermind Fahmi Ben Khalifa to Malta.
Mr Abela insisted the UN report said nothing new since fuel smuggling was a long-standing issue in the Mediterranean that involved other countries apart from Malta.
“Every time the authorities received reports they were always investigated but it is not wise to mention names because there could be ongoing investigations,” he said.
Mr Khalifa was linked to two ships – the Basbosa Star and the Sea Master X (formerly known as Amazigh F) – suspected of carrying out fuel smuggling operations from Libya by a UN panel of experts.
The report, presented to the Security Council last week, gave an overview of the political situation in Libya. One of the aspects covered is fuel smuggling as a means to finance militia operations in the country that remains divided after the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
The report contains an annex on Mr Khalifa’s smuggling network.
Mr Khalifa is a shareholder in ADJ Trading, a Maltese-registered company. The other shareholders are former Malta international footballer Darren Debono and an Egyptian man.
Mr Debono, through his company Andrea Martina, operates the vessel Bonu 5, which the UN report said had approached the Basbosa Star and the Sea Master X in September last year. The Basbosa Star and the Sea Master X are currently anchored just outside Maltese waters on Hurd’s Bank.
The report said the ships would sail south to between 40 and 60 nautical miles off the Libyan coast, where they turned off the automated identification system, a tracking system. After they were loaded, they returned to Malta.
The vessels remained adrift at least 12 nautical miles off the coast, outside Maltese territorial waters, while they discharged the fuel onto other vessels that carried it to the coast.
The UN report gives a list of dates throughout 2015 during which the two vessels were tracked travelling towards Libya. The movements of other vessels that would have anchored beside the two ships are also listed.
Mr Debono has so far not commented on the report findings, telling this newspaper last Monday he first wanted to see the UN report and consult his lawyers.
There have been various instances over the past three years of fuel smuggling operations disrupted by Libyan authorities.
In September last year, the Maltese-owned tanker Santa Cruz, registered in Tanzania, was intercepted by the Libyan coastguard near Zuwara. It is understood that over 200,000 litres of smuggled fuel were found on board. The crew of the tanker included a Maltese national.