Efforts to evacuate the Maltese who are still in Libya will continue, the government said this evening.
It is likely that the remaining Maltese as well as evacuees of other nationalities will be leaving Tripoli on a ship scheduled to leave from Benghazi to Tripoli tonight, sources said.
They'll be taken back to Benghazi, then to the Egyptian border by land, IOM official Martin Jerrett told AFP.
A Maltese ship that was due to evacuate Maltese and foreign nationals from Tripoli today came under fire and was forced to retreat to sea.
"The Maltese boat MV Triva 1, which was due to evacuate foreign nationals from Libya was unable to enter the port of Tripoli this morning. It was swept by gunfire and it returned to its anchorage," a Polish ministry spokeswoman Paulina Kapuscinska told AFP.
"Discussions are continuing with the rebels to allow the ship to enter the port and safely evacuate the foreigners," she said.
A ship chartered by the International Organisation for Migration is scheduled to leave for Tripoli from Benghazi in eastern Libya to evacuate about 300 foreigners, an IOM official said.
"The boat is due to leave tonight from Benghazi to evacuate around 300 foreigners from Tripoli if the security situation will allow it. We plan to chart more boats in the coming days," Mr Jerrett said.
With rebels having entered western Tripoli today after clashes with pro-government forces, foreign journalists in the capital also received IOM passes to be evacuated.
The Maltese government said this evening that in the past days it had done its utmost to evacuate the Maltese who remained in Libya and the operation was expected to also include the evacuation of other nationalities.
Without making any reference to the Trivia 1, the government said it was continuously following the operation and it did not result that any of the people were injured.
It said that in every decision it took, the safety of all the people involved would be a primary consideration.
At the start of the Libyan conflict in February and March, Malta served as a logistical and humanitarian base for foreign nationals evacuated from Libya. It is estimated that more than 16,000 evacuated people passed through Malta, most of them coming by sea.