Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1544021
6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 27 MARCH 2022 OPINION 2 maltatoday EXECUTIVE EDITOR KURT SANSONE ksansone@mediatoday.com.mt Letters to the Editor, MaltaToday, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 E-mail: dailynews@mediatoday.com.mt Letters must be concise, no pen names accepted, include full name and address maltatoday | SUNDAY • 22 MARCH 2026 A crippled ship, an EU problem and Malta's security Editorial THE Arctic Metagaz cannot be allowed to drift across the Mediterranean Sea, especially if it still has a payload of fuels on board. The ship is a safety and environmental hazard waiting to hap- pen and it is only thanks to nature's forces that it has drifted away from Malta. In its current, incapacitated state, there is ab- solutely no guarantee that the heavily dam-aged tanker will not drift back into waters closer to Malta. Undoubtedly, the situation poses several chal- lenges of a legal, security and environmental na- ture that are not easily resolved. To start with, the ship is Russian flagged and in normal circumstances it would be the flag state that coordinates a response or serves as a focal point for impacted actors. But given Russia's pa- riah status and the added complication that the Arctic Metagaz is, or rather was, part of the shad- ow fleet used to evade fuel sanctions, coopera- tion with the flag state be-comes a legally tricky exercise. The bigger and more immediate problem is the risk of severe sea contamination if the ship fails. If this happens, it is not just nature that takes the toll but also maritime activities like fishing and water production through reverse osmosis plants. The Russian state should be clear about the fuel payload on board. This will help the au-thorities understand the nature of the risk involved. What is clear though is that no one country on its own can deal with all these issues. Mal- ta, along with four other EU member states, has rightly insisted that the Arctic Metagaz is a Eu- ropean problem that requires a joint solution and action plan. Given the legal complications involved and the risks associated with a salvage operation of this scale, the EU must activate its civil protection response even if the ship remains adrift in inter- national waters. A fuel leak knows no bounda- ries. An explosion could harm fishers and other seafarers. It is in no one's interest that the Arctic Metagaz is left at the mercy of the wind and sea swell with individual countries silently hoping the problem comes no-where near their coast. Just as the EU has activated the civil protection mechanism for severe storms, flooding, wild fires and earthquakes that cause devastation on land, it should treat maritime disasters in the same way. For a small island state like Malta, which is dependent on the sea for its po-table water and cooling systems for the Delimara power stations complex; and whose tour-ism and aquaculture industries could be fatally impacted, maritime disasters could be cata-strophic, even if they hap- pen outside jurisdictional waters. But then there is the wider issue of security at sea. The mere fact that a ship like Arctic Metagaz can be struck by maritime drones operated from God knows where by an unknown actor—the Russians blame Ukraine and chatter on social media channels known to be close to Ukraine had from the onset indicated the Ukrainian se- cret service was behind the attack—lays bare the security risks any country bordering the Medi- terranean Sea faces. This is an issue of direct interest to Malta. The latest incident involves a ship that was very far off from Malta's shores, but only last year, a drone attack on a humanitarian vessel hap-pened just outside territorial waters in the busy Hurd Bank area. Furthermore, Malta has strategic energy and communication infrastructure deep below the sea that connects it to mainland Europe and the world via Sicily. A targeted attack, or even an ac- cident, on these subsea cables will cripple Malta. Within this context it is in the national interest for Malta to be part of EU defence and secu-rity arrangements and financing mechanisms. The Armed Forces of Malta and other agen-cies must be in a position to monitor, detect, anticipate and address threats to the safety of the country, its people and infrastructure. And where the coun- try lacks in resources because of its small size, it should be in a position to benefit from the EU's overarching security and defence architecture. It is ridiculous that the AFM's largest patrol ves- sel, which is also its most modern, the P71, has been out of action for almost a year because it is damaged. It is also problematic to have two out of three modern helicopters out of action. The situation on the ground jars with the political rhetoric that Malta is prepared. Malta needs to invest more and intelligently in its defence and security because our eco-nomic prosperity and our quality of life could depend on it in an ever increasing volatile world. Quote of the Week "Since one of the hosts of this biggest sporting event in the world is party to a war, it's only legitimate that assurances are given." – European Sports Commissioner Glenn Micallef requesting that FIFA give assurances that fans travelling to North America to watch the World Cup this summer will remain safe. MaltaToday 10 years ago Attorney General reviewing George Farrugia pardon 20 March 2016 The Attorney General has been asked to carry out an initial review into whether a rev- ocation of the presidential pardon given to oil trader George Farrugia is possible. The news comes in the wake of the confir- mation on appeal of the acquittal of Ray Fer- ris, a former Enemalta chief procurements officer who had been accused by Farrugia of having solicited a €40,000 bribe. The bribe was allegedly asked to influence the privatisation process for Enemalta's pe- troleum division, the state energy corpora- tion's fuel products arm in which Farrugia— an agent for commodities giants Trafigura and Totsa—had an interest. The news also coincides with reports Mal- taToday has received that Farrugia, still assisted by his legal counsel and longtime friend, Siegfried Borg Cole, has been seeking business opportunities in Sicily. This newspaper is informed that Farrugia had only recently made contacts to access the oil bunkering business in the Sicilian port of Augusta, but that a deal with the Tri- este-based bunkering giant Decal had fallen through. Sources say the Italians pulled out of the deal. [...]