Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1544603
6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 26 APRIL 2026 NEWS CONTINUES FROM PAGE 1 The property is located in Triq Manwel Dimech and the lease agreement reviewed by Malta- Today shows Josielle Gaffarena as the signatory. Nonetheless, her husband Mark Gaffarena appears on Planning Authority documents related to the prop- erty as the applicant. Bilal told MaltaToday that trouble began when he noticed a green wire coming out of the electricity meter entering into his room and passing through a wall. He reported this unortho- dox wiring to Josielle Gaffarena but she brushed him off and told him that there was no issue. But Bilal reported the matter to Enemalta and the property owners soon found authorities poking around their meter and discovering irregularities. Furi- ous, Josielle Gaffarena decided to kick Bilal out of the room, keeping his possessions in the process and leaving the Paki- stani national in dire straits. When Bilal reported the mat- ter to the police, he was told to speak to the Housing Authority. But to his surprise the Housing Authority told him they cannot help since the property is not registered under them for resi- dential purposes but under the Malta Tourism Authority as a hostel. The contract seen by Tenant union says Gaffarena Housing Authority but with Malta Josielle Gaffarena is the signatory on the 10-month contract granted to a Pakistani national, who was then kicked out after reporting irregularities with the electricity meter The contract signed by Josielle Gaffarena is registered under the Malta Tourism Authority, not the Housing Authority Libya abandons Arctic Metagaz as ghost ship floats aimlessly in Mediterranean THE Libyan authorities have seemingly abandoned the strick- en Russian LNG carrier Arctic Metagaz after multiple failed at- tempts to keep it on tow. Ship tracking websites show that the tugboat Maridive 701, which was keeping the uncrewed ship on tow off the eastern Liby- an coast has now returned back to base in Tripoli. No other tug- boats can be tracked in the area where the crippled Russian ves- sel was last reported. The Arctic Metagaz does not have a functioning tracking de- vice and so does not appear on tracking web sites. Unless the Libyan authorities placed an in- dependent tracking device on the vessel, nobody really knows where it is located. Past experience shows that the floating wreck could drift hun- dreds of miles in any direction depending on sea and wind con- ditions. It remains unclear whether the Maltese, Italian and Greek au- thorities are keeping track of the vessel through aerial maritime patrols. The Arctic Metagaz was hit by marine drones at the beginning of March as it sailed in the cen- tral Mediterranean. The ship forms part of the Russian shad- ow fleet that carries fuel supplies in breach of international sanc- tions. Russia blames Ukraine for the drone attack that caused an explosion and fire on board. Ukraine has never claimed re- sponsibility but an independ- ent investigation by French journalists has uncovered the presence of Ukrainian military personnel in western Libya that also operate a maritime facility from where sea drones can be launched. The ship was abandoned by its crew and has floated aim- lessly in the Mediterranean Sea since then. It initially drifted towards Malta, before shifting direction towards Lampedusa and later south towards Libya's western offshore oil fields. The Libyan authorities then towed the vessel eastwards and away from the coastline. Since Easter, the Arctic Metagaz was located northeast of Benghazi under the watchful eye of General Haftar's eastern militia. However, at- tempts to keep the vessel on tow repeatedly failed. Untraceable, the Arctic Metag- az is now a ghost ship, drifting aimlessly on the high seas and posing an environmental and se- curity hazard. The attack on the ship de- stroyed two LNG storage tanks but left others intact. The re- maining cargo has been gassing off but the extent of the danger remains unclear. In late March, Malta, Italy and Greece had asked the European Commission for coordinated European action on the Arctic Metagaz given the cost to neu- tralise the hazard and the legal complications related to the fact that the vessel and its cargo are sanctioned. Nothing much has happened since then. KURT SANSONE ksansone@mediatoday.com.mt The Arctic Metagaz wreck was last located some 90 nautical miles off the Libya's eastern coast before tugboat operations to keep it on tow were abandoned