A crew member of a Greek-registered ship who was reported missing by his vessel should thank his lucky stars... he was spotted later in the sea by a Maltese-registered vessel 165 miles off Malta and taken to Turkey.

The 36-year-old man from the Philippines was reported missing by his captain on Sunday morning.

However, when he was found by the Port Estoril, he refused to return to his vessel, the Armed Forces of Malta (AFM) said.

Shortly before 7 a.m. on Sunday, the Greek ship, the Anglia P, informed the AFM Operations' Centre that it had a man overboard.

The centre informed ships in the immediate area to keep a sharp look-out and coordinated a search. Fourteen vessels assisted in the search which ended at 4 p.m. when the Port Estoril reported that the man had been recovered 165 nautical miles off Malta.

The captain of the Port Estoril told the Operations Centre that the man claimed his life had been threatened and he did not want to go back to his ship.

The AFM said that since the man's vessel was registered in Greece, a decision had to be taken by the Greek authorities. But as the latter refused to get involved, the man was taken to the Port Estoril's next port of call - Iskenderun in Turkey.