The rescue boat which was stranded in the middle of the Mediterranean with more than 600 asylum seekers on board could head for the city of Valencia after Spain said it will accept the ship.
The crew of the Aquarius boat had said it had food and water for just two to three days, amid a tense standoff between Malta and Italy.
Rome and Valletta have both refused to accept the Aquarius, which was left in limbo between Sicily and Malta until the Spanish prime minister’s office said it would be accepted by Valencia.
The Aquarius, operated by the humanitarian organisation Medecins Sans Frontieres, has 629 migrants on board after carrying out a series of rescues off the coast of Libya at the weekend.
They include 123 unaccompanied minors, 11 younger children and seven pregnant women. The number of migrants on board is well over the ship’s capacity of 550 people.
