Drifting migrant boat in Mediterranean supplied with fuel but no rescue, NGO says

German Group Sea-Watch International said on Monday that a commercial ship had provided gasoline and water to a distressed boat carrying approximately 400 migrants between Greece and Malta but had been ordered not to undertake a rescue.

The support service Alarm Phone received a warning early on Sunday that a vessel that had left Tobruk in Libya amid a dramatic increase in migrant boats crossing the Mediterranean from North Africa was adrift and taking on water.

The boat, according to the alarm, was in Maltese SAR territory (SAR).

On Monday, Sea-Watch International, which used one of its two planes to identify the boat, accused Malta of not wishing to rescue the individuals on board despite the terrible danger they were in and the fact that the boat was having trouble with 1.5-meter waves.

The government of Malta tweeted on Thursday that it does not feel obligated to take in any of the migrants if the boat continues to go toward Italy.

Despite repeated demands for response, the Maltese government has remained silent.

On Saturday, two boats carrying at least 23 Africans trying to reach Italy sunk off the coast of Tunisia, leaving at least four dead and many more missing.

The Doctors Without Borders (MSF) vessel Geo Barents completed a challenging 11-hour rescue operation in rough seas last week, saving the lives of 440 migrants in peril off the coast of Malta.

Around a thousand migrants landed on the Italian island of Lampedusa on Sunday, a news source called ANSA said. Lampedusa is located south of Sicily.