Boat carrying 400 migrants drifts between Greece and Malta: report | World News

A boat carrying about 400 people was taking on water as it drifted between Greece and Malta on Sunday after a sharp increase in migrant boats crossing the Mediterranean from North Africa.

Alarm Phone said on Twitter that they had received a call from the ship from Tobruk, Libya and that they had notified authorities. But so far, authorities have not launched a rescue operation, they added.

The call said the ship was now in the Malta Search and Rescue Area (SAR).

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German NGO Sea-Watch International said on its Twitter account that it had spotted two merchant ships nearby.

It said the Maltese authorities had ordered the ships not to undertake a rescue, with one only being asked to provide fuel for it.

Maltese authorities could not immediately be reached for comment.

Emergency calls said people on board panicked and several needed medical attention. They said the ship had run out of fuel, the lower deck was full of water, and the captain had left and no one was available to steer the ship.

Another NGO Germany’s Resqship said on Sunday that at least 23 migrants had died overnight in another shipwreck in the Mediterranean.

The NGO found 25 people in the water during a rescue operation and its staff were able to rescue 22 survivors and two bodies, it said on Twitter, although it was told about 20 more had drowned.

440 last week migrants rescued Malta after a complex 11-hour maneuver in rough seas on board the Geo Barents vessel of the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) charity.

At least 23 African migrants went missing on Saturday, four of them dead, after two of their boats sank off Tunisia while trying to reach Italy.