75 migrants rescued as Malta rents fourth tourist boat

The Armed Forces of Malta (AFM) has rescued another group of 75 migrants on Wednesday night, and a fourth tourist vessel was rented to keep them outside Maltese territorial waters until an agreement with other European states is reached, a spokesman for the Maltese government confirmed on Thursday.

All the 75 migrants were male. The fourth tourist vessel will be leaving Malta later on Thursday after loading provisions.

It will drop anchor 13 nautical miles east of Valletta, where it will join another three tourist vessels commissioned by the Maltese government to house just over 350 migrants rescued since the end of April.

Wednesday's rescue came two days after the AFM rescued 90 migrants, with 27 of them -- consisting of minors and women -- being allowed to disembark in Malta despite the closure of its ports for asylum seekers.

The minors and women were allowed to disembark in Malta "for humanitarian reasons," the AFM said then.

Malta has closed off its ports to asylum seekers, citing health concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic.