Updated at 10.52 p.m. - revises number of migrants, adds details.

An AFM patrol boat this evening towed a boat carrying 347 migrants to Malta after they were rescued some 20 miles south-east of Delimara.

The migrants were on a wooden 20-foot fishing boat which suffered engine failure and started drifting. The boat was detected in the morning and was assisted by Patrol Boat P-61, which arrived back at Marsamxett at 10.30 p.m.

Those on board were mostly Bangladeshi, Libyans and Egyptians with some from Mali and other countries. They included 48 women, 12 children and 16 babies. Many of the migrants are understood to be oil workers who were stranded in Libya when the turmoil started.

The boat left from the Libyan coast, close to the Tunisian border.

In contrast to the usual migrant rescues, many of the migrants who were brought to Malta tonight carried personal belongings in bags. They appeared to be in good health.

The rescue took place just a week after the European Union announced that EU member states had agreed to resettle 323 refugees from Malta under a trial solidarity mechanism piloted by Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom.

The resettlement pledges were made by Poland, Portugal, Bulgaria, Germany, Romania, Spain, Slovakia, the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, Hungary and Denmark as well as non-members Norway, Switzerland  and Lichtenstein after Malta migrant that the influx of migrants, particularly in view of the unrest in North Africa, was excessive for a small island.  

There are 3,000 migrants who are beneficiaries of international protection in Malta.