After 38 days at sea, NGO vessel rescues Maersk ship migrants

Twenty-seven migrants stranded at sea for over a month aboard a Danish-flagged freighter have been transferred to a rescue group's ship where they can receive medical attention, the shipowner said Friday.

"They were transferred to the ship Mare Jonio operated by the non-governmental organisation Mediterranea," Maersk Tankers said in a statement.

"We have been increasingly concerned for the rescued persons' physical and mental health following their prolonged stay onboard," the shipping company added.

Mediterranea has said it will conduct "a health assessment using the medical team onboard" the Mare Jonio, Maersk said.

On Sunday, three of the rescued people jumped overboard before being recovered by the crew.

On August 4 the Maersk Etienne responded to requests from Maltese authorities to pick up the group of 27 which includes a pregnant woman and a child, but the ship has since then been shut out of harbours.

Maltese Prime Minister Robert Abela said Sunday that the people on board were not his country's responsibility as the vessel sails under the Danish flag.

And the transfer to the NGO ship doesn't necessarily mean the migrants will soon reach dry land after their Kafkaesque voyage during which Mediterranean ports have refused to let them dock.

The migrants onboard are among the thousands who have attempted to many who have attempted to reach Europe, often aboard unseaworthy and overcrowded vessels.

In the first half of the year, 14,481 people took to the sea from Libya trying to reach Europe, according to UNHCR figures.