Traditionally, fishermen around the world have always been associated with unlikely tales of strange phenomena encountered upon the waves: sea-monsters, mermaids, phantom ships and other such superstitious oddities. And in recent months, a number of Maltese fishermen claim to have encountered a mysterious apparition which, although not exactly paranormal, remains more or less unexplained.
Asked separately, at least three different fishermen from the Marsaxlokk area all had the same story to tell: that of a large, unidentified ship transporting asylum seekers from sub-Saharan Africa, and then putting them to sea in small and often dangerously unseaworthy vessels, to be picked up within a few miles off Malta.
One fisherman, who asked not to be named, was convinced that a boatload of immigrants he helped to rescue had only just been put to sea from the mystery ship, which disappeared when their fishing vessel approached.
“One morning quite recently, just before dawn, we encountered a boat full of immigrants some miles away. I am ready to swear that it had just been lowered by a larger ship. We had picked up the ship on our radar, but we didn’t see it because it didn’t have its lights on. By the time we got close to the immigrant boat, the ship had disappeared.”
The passengers on board the small fishing vessel claimed to have sailed directly from Libya, and pointed towards empty jerry cans of petrol as if to suggest that they had run out of diesel. But the fishermen who assisted them remain steadfastly unconvinced.
“We gave them food and water, and contacted the Armed Forces who came and picked them up some hours later,” the fisherman continued, “But apart from lacking water, they were all in good health.”
The same fisherman admits that this is not the case with all boatloads encountered upon the high seas. “We have seen some bad cases. Sometimes it is clear that they would have been at sea for days. Sometimes they would need urgent medical help. But in this case, you could tell that they had only been at sea for a short time.”
However, AFM sources openly doubt these and other, similar claims. “At no point have we seen any suspicious activity of the kind you describe,” a well-placed AFM source told MaltaToday. “Neither have any fishermen reported the matter directly to us.”
Asked what action would be taken if a ship was seen engaged in this kind of activity, the source said that there was a clear protocol governing these kind of situations at sea.
“If we did encounter this kind of activity, we would either board the vessel or make contact with the relevant authorities in the flagging country.”

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NEWS | Wednesday, 15 August 2007

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