A sea rescue NGO lambasted the Maltese authorities on Wednesday after 82 people went missing at sea, claiming the island would have rescued them had they been European. 

The 82 people remain missing, Sea-Eye said, with information provided to Maltese authorities by separate NGO about their boat seemingly ignored. 

Sea-Eye said that its rescue ship spent Sunday and Monday searching for a group of people in distress in the Maltese Search and Rescue Zone. The group had been flagged by AlarmPhone with the Sea-Eye 4 vessel and, separately, the Maltese Rescue Control Centre, it said.

AlarmPhone sent updated coordinates several times until it lost communication with the group of 82 people, it added.

"The Maltese RCC made no discernible attempts to locate the boat. The Maltese RCC claimed it had 'no information' during a phone call with an AlarmPhone employee. Finally, the AlarmPhone employee was accused of blocking the phone line for other maritime emergencies, Sea Eye said.

The NGO added there is currently no information on the whereabouts of the 82 people, and that although the maritime emergency occurred in Malta's SAR zone, Malta did not involve the Sea-Eye 4 in a coordinated search.

“After intensive days of searching by our crew, we know nothing about the fate of the people who called for help in the SAR zone of an EU member state.

Accusations of discrimination

"Had Malta sent a surveillance aircraft and involved us in the search, we might have found the people. At least that is what the Maltese rescue centre would have done if they had been Europeans in distress at sea,” Gorden Isler, chair of Sea-Eye, said.

129 rescued people need port of safety

Right now, the Sea Eye vessel is hosting 129 people it rescued in two missions in collaboration with NADIR and Rise Above in the Libyan search and rescue region.

One migrant who suffered severe pain in his abdomen and had fever was evacuated to Malta. 

Some 48 are minors, 47 of whom are unaccompanied. The crew has asked Italy for a port of safety.