The German rescue vessel Sea-Eye 4 carrying 87 migrants is hoping for permission to dock in an Italian port, after days of waiting to be allowed to enter a port in Malta.
According to the organization, Maltese authorities had rejected the ship's request, even though the crew had rescued the migrants in the country's Search and Rescue (SAR) zone a week ago.
The Sea-Eye 4 therefore set off for Sicily and has been cruising off the coast there since Sunday in the hope of being allocated a port.
The rescue organizations active in the Mediterranean have repeatedly complained that Malta refuses to let them dock in its ports, forcing them to continue on to southern Italy.
German lawmaker Julian Pahlke, who's currently aboard the Sea-Eye 4, wrote on Twitter on Sunday that the ship had requested to be assigned a safe harbour on the island, adding: "What does Malta do? They [said they] were not responsible and the ship was to head for its home port of Regensburg [in southern Germany]. Not kidding."
