The Department of Defence has said it is in active discussion with Maltese authorities about the transfer of the decommissioned naval vessel LÉ Aoife to help the island deal with its refugee crisis.
The talks come amid reports that sources within the Armed Forces of Malta have expressed concerns about accepting the vessel.
Malta's Independent online reported that AFM personnel said the LÉ Aoife was "past it's sell-by date" and that accepting it would allow "other junk to be dumped" at its naval base in the Mediterranean Sea.
The sources also expressed concern that it may not be suitable for dealing with Malta's refugee crisis because its top speed is 17 knots and it does not have the capacity to launch a small craft from its stern.
This is seen as essential for the search and rescue operations that occur as a result of refugees entering Maltese waters in makeshift boats.
The Maltese sources said its requirement for a crew of more than 40 people would "pose a major human resource manning headache to an already stretched AFM Maritime Squadron".
The LÉ Aoife was decommissioned at the end of January at a ceremony in Waterford.
It had operated for 35 years making its the longest serving vessel in the Naval Service.
During that time it travelled 600,000 nautical miles, an equivalent of circumnavigating the globe 28 times.
Her crew has boarded over 4,700 vessels at sea and detained over 440 fishing vessels.
She was also involved in a number of search and rescue missions, most notably, the recovery in 1985 of the black box from Air India Flight 182 off the south west coast
The LÉ Aoife was due to be put up for auction in the coming weeks but the auction was cancelled earlier this month.
The replacement vessel for LÉ Aoife, the LÉ James Joyce, is due to be delivered later this year.
LÉ Aoife is twinned with Waterford and has had a long association with the city.
A team who had been lobbying for the vessel to be gifted to Waterford City has said it was "bitterly disappointed" to hear it was been withdrawn from sale and gifted to Malta.
It says the ship would have been of value to the city for tourism and education purposes.
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