A boat carrying 220 sub-Saharan immigrants is currently under escort by an Italian patrol vessel in the vicinity of Lampedusa.

The boat is one of four sighting reports of boats carrying immigrants received by the Armed Forces of Malta in the past 18 hours.

In a statement, the AFM said all boats reportedly departed from Libya and were heading in a northerly direction in an attempt to cross the Mediterranean sea.

A total of around 500 people were estimated to be on the boats.

Two sightings were initially located within the Libyan search and rescue region and another two were initially located within the Malta's search and rescue zone.

The AFM was informed of the sightings by Rome and by NATO.

The boat currently in the vicinity of Lampedusa was reported to the AFM by Rome at 6.20 p.m. yesterday. It was located 126 nautical miles from Malta and 85 nautical miles from Lampedusa, 13 nautical miles outside the Malta's SAR region.

The information passed on to the AFM included the telephone number of a satellite phone on board the vessel.

The AFM said it only managed to make contact with this boat once.

It dispatched one of its patrol craft to the area but assistance was rendered by a NATO warship, which was closer to the migrants' boat.