The government has chartered a second Captain Morgan vessel after another 123 migrants were rescued in two separate operations last night.

The migrants were rescued in two operations coordinated by Malta, government sources said.

Malta recently closed its ports to migrants in view of the Covid-19 pandemic. A group of migrants rescued last week were transferred onto the Europa II (main photo). The vessel is currently anchored 13 nautical miles east of Malta, just outside territorial waters.

The government had to charter a second vessel, the Bahari, (below) after the number of rescued migrants practically tripled overnight.

In the first case, the AFM patrol boat P52 picked up 45 people - 39 men, 3 women, one of whom is pregnant, and three young children.

In the second case, Malta dispatched a fishing vessel to pick up a second group of 78. This group was made up of 68 men, five women, one of whom is also pregnant, and five children.

105 of the migrants rescued last night were transferred onto the second chartered Captain Morgan ship.

The migrants on board have been provided with food, water and medical supplies, the sources said.

The children, accompanied by one parent, as well as the pregnant women, were brought to Malta. 1 These 18 people were placed in quarantine at the initial reception centre.

The government is calling on the EU to help relocate the rescued migrants. So far, only Portugal has replied, offering to take 6 migrants.

Currently, there are 57 migrants on board the Europa II, 105 on the second Captain Morgan vessel and a further 79 on board the MV Marina off Lampedusa.