Alarm Phone, a support service reported that a vessel carrying approximately 400 people was adrift and taking on water between Greece and Malta, following a precipitous increase in the number of migrant vessels traversing the Mediterranean from North Africa.
Alarm Phone stated on Twitter that they had received a contact from the vessel after it departed Tobruk, Libya. They noted that officials had not yet initiated a rescue effort.
The ship had entered the Maltese SAR zone, the alarm phone indicated (SAR).
German organization Sea-Watch International tweeted that they had located the ship alongside two cargo ships.
It was added that Maltese officials had requested that none of the ships rescue anyone. They instead requested that one of the ships deliver petroleum.
The alarm phone reported that numerous passengers required medical assistance due to their tension. They said the ship was out of gas, the hold was full of water, the captain had abandoned the ship, and no one knew how to navigate the vessel.
On Sunday, a German Group called Resqship reported that 23 migrants had died in a second tragedy in the Mediterranean the night before.
During a rescue operation, the Charity reportedly observed 25 people in the water. Its crew extracted 22 survivors and two bodies. However, the organization was afterward informed that roughly 20 individuals had died.
Last week, the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) vessel Geo Barents successfully completed a difficult 11-hour rescue operation in turbulent seas. They saved the lives of 440 migrants in danger off the coast of Malta.
Saturday, two vessels carrying African migrants attempting to reach Italy capsized off the coast of Tunisia, resulting in the deaths of four and the disappearance of at least 23 others.
