Updated 9.15pm

The fate of 110 people, among them women and children, still stranded on boats in Malta’s search and rescue zone remained uncertain on Saturday night, after some 160 more were taken to Lampedusa. 

Emergency service Alarm Phone said two of three boats that had been adrift in the area for days with no assistance had been rescued and taken to Lampedusa. 

"We are happy that they survived this terrible journey & abandonment at sea," Alarm Phone said.

But the third remained south-west of Malta, despite merchant vessels captured on camera in the vicinity of the boats and the Armed Forces of Malta aware of the situation, according to the NGO. 

The vessel, carrying 110 people, lost communication on Friday afternoon. 

“We don’t know if they are still at sea, if they have been illegally pushed back to Libya or if anything else has happened,” she said.

“We hope they are still alive but the Maltese authorities refuse to inform us and their relatives,” she said.

The NGO later said that it had made contact with the boat and that its passengers were in critical condition. Two people had fainted and the man on the phone was barely able to speak, it said.

'No assistance'

Alarm Phone has accused the Armed Forces of Malta (AFM) and the Italian Coast Guard of refusing to provide assistance or to coordinate rescue by merchant vessels for the 270 people aboard the three boats, some of whom had been at sea without water for two days. 

According to maritime law, the shipmaster of any vessel has a duty to conduct a speedy rescue of those it encounters in distress at sea “without regard to their nationality, status or the circumstances in which they are found.”

Likewise, the Search and Rescue convention obliges State parties to ensure that assistance be provided to any person in distress at sea in its search and rescue zone.

Last year, a tense delay in rescues over the Easter weekend ended in a number of deaths and a pushback orchestrated by the Maltese authorities.

Rescue workers fear a repeat of that tragedy this year, with five boats traced within Malta's search and rescue zone this week alone.  

Apart from the three vessels that remain adrift at sea, Alarm Phone noted two others: one carrying 88 people including a baby and children, and another carrying 20 people. Both were left without help at sea until they drifted into Lampedusa earlier this week, where according to Alarm Phone, stranded passengers were disembarked.

The AFM did not respond to questions about any of these boats by Times of Malta.

In a statement, NGO Repubblika urged the Maltese and Italian authorities to intervene, warning of a repeat of last year's Easter incident. 

The group said it was worrying that authorities were not answering journalists' questions and urged them to make a statement. 

The boats rescued on Saturday: 

The first boat carrying 100 people left Libya on Wednesday night. Its motor stopped working on Friday morning.  

Merchant vessel Asian Pearl 11 then arrived on the scene but offered the stranded people no assistance, said an Alarm Phone spokesperson.

“The people in danger hoped they were being rescued but instead they didn’t even receive water or life vests and were abandoned for the second time,” she said.

The NGO has established that people aboard the boat are still alive, although they have been unable to communicate with them. 

Another boat with 60 people aboard was in a desperate situation with water entering the motor and no food and water on Friday, said the Alarm Phone spokesperson.

They had been at sea for 60 hours and were drifting towards the Italian SAR zone, she said.