A commercial tanker has rescued some 30 migrants who were in distress at sea, and is now heading to Malta according to an NGO which tracks migrants in distress at sea.

The NGO Alarm Phone said that the migrants had been spotted by an AFM aircraft but that no vessel had gone to intercept them.

A private vessel – the Panama-registered Pan Unity – had subsequently picked up the migrants as it was on course to sail to Egypt, and Alarm Phone said that it now heading to Malta after diverting course.

According to ship tracker MarineTraffic, the ship is expected to arrive in Malta at 7:30pm tonight, although it is not known whether it has been granted permission to enter the country’s ports.

🔴 SOS from the Central Med!
We were called by another boat in urgent distress that left from #Benghazi area. After 5 days at sea, water is entering the boat and the 30 people are panicking. They need rescue immediately! Don’t wait until it is too late again, #DontLetThemDrown ! pic.twitter.com/hSJOuZJ45s

— Alarm Phone (@alarm_phone) December 26, 2021

The migrants are believed to have left from Benghazi in Libya, and to have been at sea for around five days, when their boat started taking on water.

Migrant crossings have increased over the Christmas period, with the NGO Sea-Eye recently rescuing over 200 from Maltese waters.  The migrants were eventually offered a port of safety in Pozzallo, Sicily.

Photo: Stock image