Another group of 73 immigrants arrived in Malta yesterday, bringing the total number of irregular arrivals this month to 256.

A patrol boat of the Armed Forces of Malta rescued the immigrants after their dinghy, seemingly adrift in strong winds, was located by helicopter some 32 nautical miles south of Malta.

The AFM’s dispatches were made after an unspecified initial report.

The migrants, 22 women and 51 men, were brought to AFM’s Haywharf base in Floriana in the afternoon after a difficult rescue hampered by bad weather.

The police said they were investigating the case.

Last week, 93 migrants arrived in two groups within the space of eight hours. The week before saw a dinghy with 90 migrants washed ashore at Għajn Tuffieħa (Riviera Bay).

Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici recently warned Malta to brace itself for a “challenging summer”.

“We were expecting this... We are under no illusions and we have to be prepared to work to handle the influx,” Dr Mifsud Bonnici told The Sunday Times. He insisted, however, there was no cause for alarm. Until the Libyan government regained stability and reorganised itself, difficulties such as patrolling the coast would remain, Dr Mifsud Bonnici said.

The Libyan Foreign Minister, speaking in Rome on Sunday, also warned that a deteriorating security situation in the south of Libya was making it likely that immigrant crossings would rise.