Israel-bound arms vessel requests Malta provide food, water

The Israel-bound vessel Kathrin, anchored just outside territorial waters, is requesting Malta provides food and water, MaltaToday has learnt.

Sources who spoke to this newspaper said the Portuguese-flagged vessel still is not in distress, and government has so far refused the request. 

“Their water and food supplies have not run out, and so government is sticking to its position of not providing any sort of assistance,” a source who spoke to this newspaper has said.

Earlier this week, a Transport Malta spokesperson told this newspaper all service requests by the Israel-bound vessel, which is carrying weapons, are being rejected.

The Kathrin is currently anchored just outside Maltese territorial waters close to Hurd’s Bank (Photo: Vessel Finder)

The spokesperson also told MaltaToday that there was no request received by the vessel to enter Malta's territorial waters. It had requested a change of crew, but this request was rejected. Nonetheless, the vessel is near Malta but outside its territorial waters.

Separately, a Transport Malta spokesperson also told MaltaToday that all service requests being made by the vessel are being rejected.

But sources also said that the situation could change if conditions aboard the vessel take a turn to the worse.

Under the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) law, countries have a responsibility to help ships in distress within their Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ).

This means that if a vessel is in an emergency within 200 nautical miles of a country's coast, its EEZ, the country must coordinate rescue efforts, even if the ship is not their own. They need to provide search and rescue services to assist those ships in danger and help save lives.

Earlier on Monday, a UN special rapporteur on Palestine urged Malta to stop the vessel carrying weapons destined for Israel from entering its waters.

“I implore the Malta government, who has regularly taken a principled stand on Palestine, to act and stop the vessel from advancing,” Francesca Albanese said in a post on X.

Albanese said that States are under an obligation to respect and ensure respect for the Genocide Convention, including not to transfer arms to parties in an armed conflict.

“We must preserve the primacy of international law and human rights, which will be sorely missed once they are no longer there for us,” she said.