Sources close to the Armed Forces of Malta have told this newsroom it is highly unlikely that any of the migrants rescued off Lampedusa between yesterday and today will be brought over to Malta.

Around 2,000 migrants from Central Africa have been rescued, 100 miles south of Lampedusa, in a joint operation involving the Armed Forces of Malta and the Italian Coastguard. The operation is still ongoing and the AFM patrol boat is still in the area. Merchant ships and tug boats were also assisting in the operation. The Italian Coast Guard offshore patrol vessel Michele Fiorillo is also on site.

Sources said that before the AFM patrol boat was called in to assist, it was going about its Frontex patrol duties. When the call came in, it was diverted to Lampedusa. It is understood that a few hundred migrants are yet to be transported to Italian shores.

Reports have also surfaced of four smugglers who brandished Kalashnikovs to threaten an Italian Coast Guard motorboat which was involved in one of several operations that rescued the migrants.

Virtu Ferries says it always assesses Libya situation, risks before evacuating people

A spokesperson for Virtu Ferries told this newsroom that it always assesses the situation in Libya and any risks which may be present before evacuating anyone from Libya.

The spokesperson said that until now, it has not received any other requests from other countries following yesterday’s evacuation of Italian nationals from Libya by means of the company’s catamaran.

Yesterday, the Italian government chartered a catamaran from Virtu to evacuate its embassy staff from Tripoli.