Army rescues 75 migrants, fourth tourist boat chartered to host them outside Maltese waters

A fourth tourist boat, Jade, has been chartered by the government to host migrants outside territorial waters after the Armed Forces of Malta was involved in another rescue

28 May 2020, 12:49pm
by Kurt Sansone

1 min read

Government has chartered the Jade from Supreme Cruises to host more rescued migrants (Photo: Supreme Cruises/Facebook)

A fourth tourist boat has been chartered by the government to host migrants offshore after the army rescued 75 people in distress overnight.

The Armed Forces of Malta rescued 75 migrants on Wednesday night, sources close to government said.

With space running out on the three Captain Morgan vessels currently moored outside territorial waters, the government has now chartered the Jade, a tourist boat that can accommodate up to 250 people. The vessel belongs to Supreme Cruises.

Malta is keeping rescued migrants on ships just outside territorial waters at 13 nautical miles, insisting that the situation will persist until there is an EU-wide relocation agreement.

The latest rescue means there are now 425 migrants being kept offshore outside Maltese waters.

The Jade is expected to join the other three Captain Morgan vessels on Hurd’s Bank later on Thursday.

Kurt Sansone is Executive Editor of MaltaToday. He was formerly deputy editor of MaltaTod...