The Armed Forces yesterday called off its search for the 53 irregular migrants spotted on Monday, after efforts to relocate the 10-metre fibreglass boat proved fruitless.

The boat, in photos published yesterday, was severely overcrowded, had an inoperable engine and was taking in water as passengers attempted to bail sea water out of the sinking fibreglass vessel to prevent it from going under.

The boat had been spotted on Monday afternoon by the AFM Air Wing Islander aircraft, which, after circling the boat for some two hours, had to return to Malta for refuelling while AFM offshore patrol vessel P-61 made its way to the last-sighted location of the flimsy boat. But on its return to the area, some 88 nautical miles south of Malta, the aircraft could find no trace of the boat, which seemed to have vanished into thin air. The aerial search continued until sundown on Monday and was suspended until yesterday morning, while the patrol boat continued its efforts throughout the night.

At around 6pm on Monday evening, another boat, appearing to be heading for Lampedusa and carrying 24 irregular migrants, was spotted and the AFM monitored its progress and intentions as the boat was within the Malta search-and-rescue area.

When this second boat capsized at about 8.40pm, an AFM RHIB dinghy from the patrol boat was sent to investigate and found the migrants crying for help around their overturned vessel.

Eighteen men and six women were rescued, while one passenger was reported to be missing at sea. The missing person, according to migrants’ accounts, was the boat’s driver.

In pitch darkness, AFM personnel lifted migrants from the choppy sea, while a life raft was also dispatched for use in the operation, in which time was of the essence. Once aboard the P-61, the migrants were given blankets, water and food. They were eventually brought ashore early yesterday morning and handed over to the Police Immigration Service.

The aerial search for the first boat sighted on Monday, meanwhile, had continued yesterday morning, but to no avail. The search has now been entirely suspended. The 53 passengers are still missing at sea and could reasonably be presumed dead.

The AFM is maintaining a constant vigil of the southwest part of Malta after the events of recent days.