A report in the Wall Street Journal said that "cheap fuel from Libya is being illegally shipped to Malta, Italy and elsewhere," based on comments they received from "Western security officials."

Omar al-Sinki, a Libyan government official who has worked on smuggling issues said to WSJ that "fuel smuggling is financing other activities such as gunrunning, drugs smuggling and human trafficking."

One particular vessel which has been suspected of illegal fuel smuggling has been identified by the Journal as being partly owned by a Maltese individual. The Malta Independent reported the story, but it was denied by the Maltese man's lawyer.

A U.N. Security Council report on Libya, as reported by the WSJ, says that the Basbosa Star is "owned, through a company, by Darren Debono of Malta, Ahmed Arafa of Egypt, and Fahmi of Zuwara, Libya."

It was reported that Western security officials are focusing on fuel tankers, operating under the belief that they are being used to illegally ship "oil products from Libya to Europe."

Through research gathered by a maritime company Windward, WSJ reported that "In January 2015, the ship [Basbosa Star] loaded its 1,621-ton capacity hold with liquids off the coast of Libya and headed for the island of Malta."

The Basbosa Star is a merchant vessel which has been flagged in the Pacific island chain of Palau. WSJ said that U.N. investigators and relevant authorities have been focusing on the vessel's movements.

While the vessel was approaching the Libyan coast earlier this year, it allegedly switched off its radio. Six days later it then reappeared en route to Malta, where it allegedly shifted some of its cargo to a Ukrainian vessel called Ruta.

"The data company can determine when a vessel is loaded or unloaded using radio signals sent by vessels detailing how low they are sitting on the water," WSJ reports.

The thinking here is that through smuggling motor fuel from Libya into Europe, high levels of funding can be generated. Libyan fuel is heavily subsidised however it is much more expensive in Europe, due to taxation.

In a report published by the U.N. Security Council on Libya, it was said that the western port of Zuwara is at the centre of the illicit smuggling network.

Smuggling through Mediterranean waters has been a mounting concern for a number of years, especially since the destabilisation of Libya after Dictator Moammar Gadhafi's death. Currently, Libya is torn between the western Islamic government of Tripoli and the internationally recognised Eastern government of Tobruk.

Attempts to form a unity government have failed due to the large number of factions and militias who have a stronghold in significant regions of the country.