Ship taken back from migrants arrives in Malta

A tanker in Malta was re-taken by the armed forces after it was hijacked by migrants it had rescued at sea. The group had hijacked the Turkish oil tanker El Hiblu 1 after it rescued them in the Mediterranean Sea, and forced the crew to put the Libya-bound vessel on a course north toward Europe.

Senglea: A tanker, that was hijacked by migrants it had rescued at sea, arrived in a Maltese port on Thursday, after armed forces restored control to the captain.

Armed military personnel stood guard on the ship's deck, and a dozen or so migrants were also visible, as the vessel docked at Boiler Wharf in the city of Senglea in Valletta's Grand Harbour.

Several police vans were lined up on shore to take custody of the migrants for investigation.

Authorities in Italy and Malta on Wednesday said that the group had hijacked the Turkish oil tanker El Hiblu 1 after it rescued them in the Mediterranean Sea, and forced the crew to put the Libya-bound vessel on a course north toward Europe.

Malta has put the number of migrants rescued at 108 but the Italian Interior minister said the ship had rescued 120.

The ship had been heading toward Italy's southernmost island of Lampedusa and the island of Malta when Maltese forces intercepted it.