A group of 104 migrants with no water supplies or life jackets were rescued off Lampedusa yesterday.

The group of migrants, all men, was rescued by the privately-owned Malta-based Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) and are expected to be taken to Pozzallo, Sicily.

The rescue, made at the request of Rome Rescue Centre, took place as commemorations are held to mark a year since 360 asylum seekers died off Lampedusa.

A number of the migrants were dehydrated and others were suffering from petrol burns due to the fact their clothes were wet with fuel, according to MOAS.

The rescue at sea was captured by Times of Malta photographer, Darrin Zammit Lupi, who joined the MOAS team as official photographer.

They were portraits of utter desperation

“I’ve been witness to several rescues at sea, but never up so close. There were 104 sub-Saharan Africans, packed so tightly into a rubber dinghy, they could barely sit down. They had no life jackets and no water. They were just 25 miles off the Libyan coast and they were already in trouble,” he told The Sunday Times of Malta last night. “As we threw life jackets to them, and then again as they were being pulled aboard the Phoenix, they were portraits of utter desperation.

The migrants stretch to reach life jackets being thrown to them.

“Anyone who thinks these people risk their lives by undertaking this deadly journey on a whim doesn’t know what he’s saying.”

MOAS is made up of a group of international humanitarians, security professionals, medical staff and experienced maritime operators who have combined their resources to help prevent further tragedies at sea.

Meanwhile, on Friday, MOAS founders Christopher and Regina Catrambone participated in various events in Lampedusa to commemorate the October 2012 tragedy, where they met several survivors and relatives.

The organisation, which began operating at the end of August, has now assisted in the rescue of some 2,200 migrants crossing from Libyan shores.