Malta has offered to carry out and pay for repairs to an aid ship which activists allege was the target for a drone strike, but only after a maritime surveyor is allowed onboard to assess the damage to the vessel, Prime Minister Robert Abela said on Sunday.

Abela fielded several questions on the situation surrounding the Conscience, a vessel run by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which was allegedly the victim of a drone strike just outside Maltese territorial waters in the early hours of Friday morning.

The vessel, which was set to pick up activists from Malta in order to make a humanitarian run into Gaza, defying an Israeli blockade, remains outside Maltese territorial waters.

Asked about the situation, Abela said that the emphasis on the word ‘alleged’ when discussing whether there was a drone strike or not must remain, because the facts are yet to be formally established.

He said that what is a fact though is that Malta took a clear position from the start – meaning that when the report was filed, support was immediately coordinated by Maltese authorities and the fire was controlled because of that support.

The crew and passengers of the vessel were also offered entry into Malta immediately – they refused, but Abela said that the offer remains open until now.

He said that two Armed Forces of Malta patrol boats are stationed in the area around the vessel and will remain there.

Asked why the ship had not been allowed to enter Maltese waters, Abela said that the Maltese government’s position is that the damages that the ship sustained must first be ascertained by a maritime surveyor.

The surveyor must be allowed to go onto the ship to assess the damages and to assess whether they are compatible with what has been alleged – ergo, a drone strike, to ascertain whether the ship is in actual fact disabled, and to then ascertain whether the necessary repairs can be done out in open water or not.

However, Abela said, the ship’s captain has refused to allow the surveyor onboard. The captain also refused to allow negotiators from the Malta Police Force onboard, forcing discussions to take place over the radio instead.

The Prime Minister continued, saying that the ship’s captain had also not sent the ship’s manifest – which is a list of the items that it is carrying – to Transport Malta, as per standard procedure, and that the vessel also had no flag or valid insurance policy.

“In the last few hours there was insistence that first the boat comes into Maltese waters and then the surveyor is allowed onboard. Our position is very clear, before a vessel – any vessel – is allowed to enter Maltese waters then control must be in the hands of Maltese authorities, especially when we are talking about a vessel with no flag, no insurance, and no class,” Abela said, adding that this is a matter of national security.

Still, Abela said that when it is asserted that the cargo that the vessel has onboard is humanitarian aid for Gaza, the Maltese government had offered to carry out the repairs to the vessel itself and at its own expense.

He said that the Palestinian Ambassador to Malta has been kept in the loop on all communication and steps taken, and added that he is in agreement with how the government is handling the matter.

He also said that there has been ministerial communication with Israel, but neglected to say anything further than referring journalists to Israel’s position as told to international media. BBC reported on Saturday that the Israeli military has said that it is looking into reports on the attack.

Asked whether the vessel will be let into Malta if it is ascertained that it is carrying humanitarian aid, Abela said that the first thing that has to happen is for the surveyor to make his conclusions and the harbourmaster to receive the vessel’s manifest, and the next step will be to determine whether the ship can be repaired at sea or not.

“Our position is that if the repairs can be done out at sea, they are done out there. That’s the position we have taken.  I am speaking within the context of today’s situation,” Abela said.

“We can all agree that the aim is that the vessel goes to Gaza as soon as possible, not to go into Maltese ports or waters indefinitely, so that if there is indeed humanitarian aid onboard it gets to its destination as soon as possible, and the government’s focus is on that,” Abela said, as he again highlighted that the Maltese government had offered to pay for the repairs itself once the damages are ascertained.

Asked why he was yet to condemn the incident, Abela said that the facts must first be established: if it is established that this was a drone attack as the crew is alleging, then the Prime Minister said he would have no difficulty in condemning the attack.

On whether there is any foreign state stopping Malta from allowing the vessel into its territory, Abela was unequivocal: “Absolutely not.”

Asked whether he would be accepting a request by Nationalist Party leader Bernard Grech to meet and discuss this issue, Abela said that on matters of national importance he had never taken partisan positions, and so would be keeping Grech up to date.