Nato naval forces operating in the Mediterranean have boarded four of the ships on the “contact of interest” list within the past month.

The vessels, some of which fly “flags of convenience” and are registered in obscure countries, have come under suspicion for a variety of reasons.

Many have repeatedly changed their names or flags in recent times, while some have regularly shipped cargo in areas of north Africa and the Middle East where Al-Qaeda is known to have a significant presence.

“There is terrorist activity in those regions and, consequently, ships coming out of those could potentially be operating in a clandestine manner,” said Lieutenant Commander Harvey Burwin, a spokesman for Operation Active Endeavour, Nato’s anti-terrorist marine force.

“There are terrorists being transported across the sea in the Mediterranean and that is what Active Endeavour is all about,” he added. “As a sideline, terrorists need equipment and the transport of that would be highly sought after by us.”

At the end of April, Nato forces operating off the coast of Cyprus intercepted and boarded two ships, the Nino Star and the Dimo, which sail under the flag of the Comoros Islands in the Indian Ocean.

Both were allowed to continue their voyage without incident. In both cases the cargo was found to be in accordance with the manifests.

Earlier this month, the Omar Alfarouk, a Syrian-registered vessel, was boarded northwest of Cyprus and the Georgian-flagged Amna A was boarded in the Aegean Sea. Again, nothing untoward was found.

Sources suggest the ships will continue to be monitored.

In August last year, a freighter was boarded by the Italian authorities after the ship’s captain grew suspicious about 15 Pakistani men he had been forced to take on board in Casablanca, Morocco.

The men were charged with terrorist offences after false documents and evidence linking them to known Al-Qaeda operatives in Europe was found on the ship.

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