Army loses hope of finding boatload of migrants

The Armed Forces of Malta have stopped their search for a boat full of illegal immigrants and fear the estimated 96 people on board have perished in rough seas.

Italian aircraft were yesterday still looking for the vessel, which according to Italian media reports was spotted by a helicopter on Thursday evening off Lampedusa in strong winds and three-metre high waves.

The helicopter had to turn back for refuelling and contact by satellite phone with the migrants was lost at 9 p.m.

Speaking to The Times, the AFM duty officer said the local armed forces withdrew from the search at 2 p.m. yesterday.

The immigrants, who were packed onto a 13-metre boat, raised the alarm via satellite phone. Italian media reported that one of the people on board called a relative - an Eritrean woman living in Bergamo - in what was described as a "desperate call for help".

The AFM said it received a call from Rome at about 5 p.m. on Thursday when the boat was about 106 nautical miles south west of Malta.

The army gave its share in the search and rescue operation, in which four foreign military warships and two merchant vessels were already involved. A helicopter based on the German warship FGS Koeln and another from the USS Klakring were dispatched and early yesterday morning a P3 Orion aircraft of the US 6th fleet based in Sigonella joined the operation.

The army said force seven winds and extremely rough seas continually hampered the search.

The AFM duty officer said Malta ended its efforts after the search proved futile. A source close to the AFM said the army's patrol boat had to turn around because of the bad weather.

Asked whether the AFM believed the boat could have sunk, the duty officer said he did not want to speculate but the weather was "quite extreme".

Despite the fact that its search has been called off, the army was broadcasting a message asking ships to keep a lookout.

Quoted on BBC news online, the AFM's Captain Andrew Mallia said it was improbable that anyone survived. He was quoted as saying: "They would have had a certain amount of water getting into the boat faster than they could get it out".

Contacted by The Times, chief meteorological officer Saviour Porter confirmed that weather in that area was quite severe.

He said the local met office had issued a gale warning yesterday. Beyond the 50 nautical miles for which the office was responsible it was even rougher and worse still near Pantelleria, north of the incident area.

Yesterday afternoon the wind was at 39 knots with gusts of 50 knots and in the morning it was 52 knots with gusts of 77 knots. Mr Porter explained that 52 knots was considered "very strong", an approximate force nine to 10.

Waves near Pantelleria were about 20 feet high and the sea was definitely rough where the boat had been sighted. A 13-metre boat, he added, could find itself in difficulties in such weather conditions.

The incident brings back memories of the tragedy of the Yioham, the boat that went down in the Malta-Sicily channel on the night of Christmas Day 1996, taking about 283 illegal immigrants to their deaths. The incident was described as the biggest maritime disaster in the Mediterranean since World War II.

Meanwhile, three Maltese fishermen were rescued from a fishing trawler - Super One - which encountered difficulties about 11 nautical miles north east of Marsalforn.

The trawler was taking in water and an AFM patrol boat was dispatched to the area. It reached the vessel early yesterday morning and began escorting it towards Marsalforn.

However, about 3.5 nautical miles from shore, the fishing boat's engine broke down and it had to be abandoned.

The three men were taken on board the rescue vessel and treated for injuries.