The migrant rescue ship Ocean Viking has saved a total of 153 people in distress off the coast of Malta. After several rescues, it has been assigned the Italian port of Civitavecchia to disembark the rescuees.
The rescue operations followed in quick succession, involving 59 and 65 people traveling on two wooden boats at first. Later, another 29 people were rescued off a fibreglass vessel after the Ocean Viking received another distress signal.
Another 15 migrants had been rescued in the same area earlier.
The rescue operations in the central Mediterranean were coordinated by Italian maritime authorities, the French charity SOS Mediterranee, which operates the Ocean Viking, said.
The migrants had reportedly all been drifting at sea for five days, and had gone without food and water for two days. The nationalities of the rescuees have not been disclosed in detail so far.
Read more: Malta, Italy: Rescues and disembarkations on the Central Mediterranean route
Numbers of arrivals spiralling
Maltese authorities have come under severe criticism lately for allegedly ignoring calls for help from migrant rescue vessels.
In the absence of assistance from Malta, Italian authorities told the Ocean Viking to take the migrants to the Italian port of Civitavecchia, located nearly 1,000 kilometres away from the site where they were found.
According to the Italian interior ministry, nearly 90,000 people have arrived in Italy by sea so far this year, the majority of whom have been picked up by the Italian coast guard.
Migrants rescued by charity vessels like the Ocean Viking make up about 14% of arrivals over the past 12 months, according to the Institute for International Political Studies.
Read more: Hundreds of migrants reach Italy, many still missing
with AFP