This brought to an end a long international stand-off where the German vessel could berth to allow the illegal immigrants to disembark.

All but one of the 37 passengers, who were saved by members of the crew of the German ship Cap Anamour, are Sudanese. The other passenger is from Sierra Leone. They were rescued on 20 June when the vessel they were on encountered difficulties and could not reach land.

The ship docked at Porto Empedocle on the southern coast of Sicily, where a bus took the asylum seekers to a holding centre in the nearby city of Agrigento, officials said.

Italian Coast Guard motorboats had escorted Cap Anamour, run by a Germany-based aid group of the same name, towards the port on Sunday but prevented it from docking.

The Italian Interior Ministry said the ship’s captain had requested help, signalling that “he was no longer able to guarantee control of the ship and command of the crew,” and was concerned about the physical well-being of the immigrants.

The Maltese authorities issue a statement on Thursday saying that the ship had never requested any assistance and nor had it informed them that there were illegal immigrants on board or that the vessel had rescued people who were dispersed at sea.

The ministry said that if the illegal immigrants had been rescued close to the Libyan coast, international rules lay down that the captain should have transported them to Libya.

“Nobody should expect that, days after this ship rescued these people without informing the Maltese authorities and now that it is off the coast of Sicily, Malta should take responsibility for these immigrants,” the Ministry said.

Meanwhile, a priest who had gone aboard the vessel at one point said some of the passengers were so desperate during that they had begun threatening to jump into the sea.

This brought to an end a long international stand-off where the German vessel could berth to allow the illegal immigrants to disembark.

All but one of the 37 passengers, who were saved by members of the crew of the German ship Cap Anamour, are Sudanese. The other passenger is from Sierra Leone. They were rescued on 20 June when the vessel they were on encountered difficulties and could not reach land.

The ship docked at Porto Empedocle on the southern coast of Sicily, where a bus took the asylum seekers to a holding centre in the nearby city of Agrigento, officials said.

Italian Coast Guard motorboats had escorted Cap Anamour, run by a Germany-based aid group of the same name, towards the port on Sunday but prevented it from docking.

The Italian Interior Ministry said the ship’s captain had requested help, signalling that “he was no longer able to guarantee control of the ship and command of the crew,” and was concerned about the physical well-being of the immigrants.

The Maltese authorities issue a statement on Thursday saying that the ship had never requested any assistance and nor had it informed them that there were illegal immigrants on board or that the vessel had rescued people who were dispersed at sea.

The ministry said that if the illegal immigrants had been rescued close to the Libyan coast, international rules lay down that the captain should have transported them to Libya.

“Nobody should expect that, days after this ship rescued these people without informing the Maltese authorities and now that it is off the coast of Sicily, Malta should take responsibility for these immigrants,” the Ministry said.

Meanwhile, a priest who had gone aboard the vessel at one point said some of the passengers were so desperate during that they had begun threatening to jump into the sea.