An AFM statement said that at around 1pm, an Italian motor vessel informed the AFM Operations Room that a small boat with about 25 persons on board had been spotted.

The persons on board required assistance since their boat was reported stationary and drifting 32 nautical miles southwest of Malta. Further information established that on board there were 17 men and eight women, three of whom were heavily pregnant, all claiming to be of Somali nationality.

An AFM Patrol Craft P51 was sent to the area to assist the migrants, who were eventually taken aboard and were transported to Malta.