Irregular migrants from Libya are this evening being rescued off Lampedusa, after they were reached by two Italian Guardia Costiera rescue-launches following a coordination operation handled by the Armed Forces of Malta.

Italian rescue co-ordination authorities in Rome notified Malta at around 9.15 a.m. that a boatload of migrants was located 42.4 nautical miles from Lampedusa, and 109.5 miles from Malta.

The AFM’s Rescue Co-ordination Centre established contact with the migrants via satellite-phone.

They said there were 170 females and 30 children among the group. Although they claimed that their boat was taking in water, they proceeded northwards to Lampedusa.

By the time the migrants’ boat was 37 nautical miles from Lampedusa late in the morning, Malta had already initiated rescue co-ordination efforts with the US Navy’s 6th Fleet headquarters in Naples, as well as other merchant vessel shipping in the area.

This was because Italian rescue assets were busy overnight with migrant boat rescue operations which obliged refuelling.

Concurrently, despite the severely bad weather in the area and the considerable distance from Malta, an AFM’s offshore patrol vessel set sail to the area.

Early in the afternoon, a NATO aircraft, having heard the AFM’s distress alert messages on marine radio, contacted Malta, and confirmed that the migrants’ boat was still afloat and heading north.

An AFM Islander was sent to the area, successfully locating the migrants’ 20-metre boat.

By late afternoon, two Italian Guardia Costiera rescue-launches out of Lampedusa were reported to Malta as heading to the migrants’ boat, with a third following.

As the AFM’s patrol boat continued steaming on its journey, the migrants were successfully intercepted by Italian rescuers some 19 miles away from Lampedusa, and they are now being escorted by Italian rescuers to port.