A group of 26 irregular migrants was brought to shore by members of the Armed Forces of Malta at Hay Wharf, Floriana, at around 7.30pm yesterday evening.
The AFM said that it had been following the plight of this group since Sunday, when it was informed at around 7am by the Italian Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) in Rome that a boat-load of migrants was in difficulty around 73NM from il-Mara’ point, Marsaxlokk.
Contact was established with the boat’s occupants by means of a satellite phone, and it was confirmed that 22 men and four women were onboard. Despite making slow progress on their course, the group said they required assistance. Half-an-hour later the AFM was informed that the boat had stopped altogether, and concerns were raised on whether the migrants were wearing life-jackets.
The Maritime Squadron’s Bremse-class patrol craft P-32 was immediately dispatched from its base in Haywharf, Floriana, but had to turn back barely 9NM out at sea since weather conditions had deteriorated. Later on, the Air Wing’s PBN Islander aircraft was deployed to locate the migrants’ boat, while attempts were made to track down merchant vessel traffic in the area.
The migrants’ boat was then spotted by the Air Wing’s Islander aircraft at around 3.15pm which reported that the passengers were actually wearing life-jackets.
Early yesterday morning, the Air Wing’s Islander aircraft was redeployed even though the wind was blowing at Force 4 and the visibility was poor. In the meantime, a vessel which was in the area, the MV Fas Dammam, was directed towards the migrants’ boat to render assistance.
The AFM’s Islander aircraft spotted the boat at around 9.45am, some 48NM south of il-Mara’ point, while the Diciotti-class OPV P-61 was heading towards the area.
Excellent coordination between the MV Fas Dammam and the AFM’s Islander aircraft led to the boat being intercepted. The migrants were taken on board the merchant ship since their flimsy boat was no longer seaworthy. In fact, it sank and a migrant was actually pulled out of the sea.
As the P-61 continued to steam towards the MV Fas Dammam, the rough sea conditions posed a potentially difficult mid-sea transfer operation, and so both vessels made a rendezvous to a sheltered area for this operation to be carried out. Concurrently, the Maritime Squadron’s Rapid Deployment Team of marines boarded the MV Fas Dammam by fast-rope from an Alouette SA316B helicopter to facilitate the mid-sea transfer.
Two bathers reported missing
In a separate case yesterday afternoon, the AFM operations’ Centre was informed by the Civil Protection Department that two people were reported missing at sea by onlooking tourists.
They had last been seen in Ghajn Tuffieha Bay on a yellow air-mattress (lilo).
Prior to this report, the CPD had just rescued five people who had found themselves in difficulty while swimming in the same bay. Since no surface CPD assets were available at the time, the MIATM’s Italian air Force AB-212 rescue-helicopter was deployed to conduct a search in the area.
While the air mattress was found, no people were spotted during the search operation. An AFM rescuer was winched to the ground to liaise with the CPD personnel, but nothing was found in all three adjacent bays and up to 1.6km from the shoreline.