While AFM assets were rendering assistance to illegal immigrants in distress to the south-east of Malta on Saturday, another emergency scenario developed off the Munxar fish-farm during the night, in a position approximately half a nautical mile from the area known as “il-Hoffiret”.

This was when a family of four, made up of three men and a child, accidentally hit the fish-farm’s apparatus out at sea.

The cabin-cruiser Zgicca immediately put out a Mayday call of distress on its VHF maritime band radio, which call was intercepted by the AFM’s coast radio station.

Two AFM Maritime Squadron assets, the Austal-class inshore patrol boat (IPB) P-24 and the Vittoria-class rescue-launch Melita-2, were immediately dispatched to the location of the accident. Once on site, they found the 30-foot cabin cruiser taking in water fast, and so transferred its four occupants onto P-24.

The uninjured party of four were safely landed at the Maritime Squadron’s base in Haywharf, Floriana early yesterday morning.