The case against Lifeline Captain Claus Peter Reisch is expected to be decided in December.

The captain of the humanitarian sea rescue vessel had been charged in July with having steered the ship into Maltese territorial waters without the necessary registration and licences.

This morning, presiding magistrate Joe Mifsud ordered that the translation of letters rogatory from Dutch to English be handled by a third party supplier as there were no court translators available at short notice.

The court informed the captain that another sitting would be held on Wednesday at 12.30hrs to enable the defence to close its submissions that day. Captain Reisch would be abroad on this date, the court was told.

The court said it would decide the case by 4 December. But Lifeline’s lawyer Cedric Mifsud said that he would appreciate two weeks to prepare his defence. “The prosecution had six months," he argued.

The delays were not down to the prosecution, thundered the magistrate, but the fault of authorities abroad, he said.

After Wednesday, the case will continue on 18 December.