A Libyan crewman has received a suspended sentence after stabbing a colleague on a ship docked at a Maltese shipyard.

Ship's cook Khaled Ahmed Elfghi, 44, knifed his "close family friend" Ali Mohamed Mohamed, 35, in the neck after a drunken row on Tuesday in Marsa, local media said.

The two are crewmates on a cargoship named as Shada.

Mohamed said he forgave his assailant, which was a mitigating factor in his sentence.