The private migrant rescue mission saved the first group of migrants yesterday - some 220 Syrians and Palestinians, including 57 children.

Several of the 40 women rescued were pregnant. The group were on a wooden fishing boat when they ran into trouble in a stretch of sea south of Malta.

It was the Italian authorities that directed the NGO’s vessel, the Phoenix, to step in. The rescued migrants were taken on board and until last night were accommodated on the vessel’s deck, which was steaming towards an Italian military vessel.

The paramedic aboard was hoping to obtain insulin from the Italian vessel, required by one of the children who has special needs.

It was still unclear whether the rescued migrants would be transferred to the Italian vessel or if Rome would instruct the Phoenix to take them to Lampedusa.

The pattern of the people on board appears similar to that of a group of 250 asylum seekers rescued by the AFM on Thursday, which also were predominantly families from the Middle East.

The Phoenix was yesterday also called to assist a group of 96 migrants on a dinghy, who appeared to be Sub-Saharan. They were assisted to board a merchant ship.

There are currently multiple rescue operations taking place in the area, which is outside Maltese search and rescue zone.

The Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) was launched officially on Monday from Malta and started operating on Wednesday.

On the day of its launch, the vessel assisted a Maltese fisherman and his five-year-old son, who were stranded some miles off the south coast of the island.

The NGO is the brainchild of entrepreneurs Chris and Regina Catrambone, who, inspired by an appeal launched by Pope Francis, decided to fork more than €4 million of their own money to set up the venture.

The aim of the operation is not to ferry rescued migrants to shore but for the vessel to act as a station out at sea that will help identify vessels at risk and give first assistance in coordination with the military forces in Malta and Italy.