Hunt is on for Gaddafi Jnr’s Malta-flagged luxury yacht ‘Che Guevara 2’

The last time she was in Malta, it was at the Bezzina ship-yard undergoing repairs. But it seems the Che Guevara 2, the Maltese-flagged motoryacht belonging to Saadi Gaddafi, is no longer in Maltese waters.

Police and port sources told MaltaToday that a cursory search for the yacht, hot on the heels of sanctions by the United Nations Security Council and a freeze on the assets of the Gaddafi family, produced no results.

Libyans in Europe who support the toppling of the Gaddafi regime have also been in communication in a bid to identify and flag the boat.

Flying a Maltese flag, the 27-metre luxurious, powerful motorboat displays a full face figure of Argentinian revolutionary Che Guevara on her bow, while a graphic reproducing Che’s signature is splashed onto both sides of the sleek white and blue cruiser.

The ‘Che Guevara 2’ is property of soccer-crazy Al Saadi Mootsam, son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. In 2006, MaltaToday reported that it was cruising in the Mediterranean from Isola d’Elba to the Cote Azure and Costa Smeralda.

Connections between Libyan business and Malta are not uncommon: the Libyan government hold stakes in the Libyan-Arab Foreign Investments Company that focuses on various interests in Malta.

Last week, American pop sensation Beyoncé announced she would donate to charity a reported $185,000 fee paid to her by the Gaddafi family.

According to the New York Post, in February 2010 Beyoncé was wired the payment by Joseph Sammut, a former Labour candidate and Malta financier. Sammut has declined to comment on the matter, citing professional secrecy.

Beyoncé said she donated the cash she earned at a private party on the Caribbean island of St. Barts on New Year's Eve, 2009 to earthquake relief efforts in Haiti after learning the promoter had links to Gaddafi. “Once it became known that the third party promoter was linked to the Gaddafi family, the decision was made to put that payment to a good cause,” she said in a statement posted on her website.

Saadi Gaddafi, who sat on the Juventus FC board, is said to be a frequent visitor to Malta. Flamboyant in character, he was a registered footballer with Serie A teams Perugia, and later with Udinese in 2003-2004. His expensive lifestyle and playboy reputation attracts plenty of media attention, with paparazzi chasing him in the company of known personalities, supermodels and movie actresses.

Gaddafi was also reported by BBC of having signed with Birkirkara FC, after having played for the Lebanese capital Tripoli side Al-Ahli.