Rescued migrants remained stranded at sea

Rescued migrants remained stranded at sea
By Daniel Bellamy with Reuters
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Malta and Italy, the nearest EU coastal states, have refused the rescue ships permission to dock.

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Almost 350 migrants remain stranded on two ships in the Mediterranean after Italy and Malta, the nearest two EU coastal states, denied them entry.

Lifeline a German charity rescue ship, picked up 234 people and 17 crew members off the coast of Libya on Thursday and still hasn't been allowed to dock anywhere.

And on Friday a cargo ship operated by Danish shipping line company Maersk, rescued another 113 migrants, also off the Libyan coast.

The Alexander Maersk remains stranded off the coast of the Sicilian town of Pozzallo.

On Monday Italy's anti-immigration interior minister visited Libya and proposed setting up migrant reception centres there.

Meanwhile the migrants wait offshore, surving on food and aid ferried to them from the Italian authorities.

They're reported to be quote "relatively well" a company spokesan said of the migrants.

"We are spending all our time trying to speak to everybody who wants to listen about this massive problem that we have,Palle Laursen, the Senior Vice President & Chief Technical Officer at Maersk Line told Euronews.

The ship had received a request from Rome's Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre on Friday to change its course after picking up a distress signal from a shipwrecked vessel.

The Alexander Maersk reached the migrants at around 04.30 in the morning.

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