A rescue ship carrying 141 migrants has arrived in Malta after a five-day dispute over where it should be able to dock.

The ship, run by SOS Mediterranee and Doctors Without Borders (MSF) had been at the centre of a row between European Union countries over where it could disembark the migrants.

It arrived at the Maltese harbour of Valletta at about 1.30pm UK time.

Image: The ship is run by Doctors Without Borders and SOS Mediterranee

Aquarius rescued the migrants off the coast of Libya in two separate missions on Friday, but Italy and Malta refused access at their ports.

The government said the military would help disembark the passengers, with health authorities, immigration police and welfare officials waiting at the port.


Migrants will be medically screened and taken to a reception centre where they will be divided between five countries.

Image: Migrants wave as Aquarius docks at Boiler Wharf in Senglea, in Valletta's Grand Harbour, Malta

In a repeat of a European standoff last seen in June, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Portugal and Spain eventually decided on Tuesday to agree to take the ship's latest passengers.

In June, the ship was stranded with 630 people on board.

The agreement is the fifth of its kind between European governments since June, when Italy started turning them away.

On Monday, Italy demanded that the UK took in all 141 migrants because the ship was registered in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar.

Image: Crew and migrants celebrate as they dock in Malta

However, Gibraltar's government said it had notified Aquarius on 6 August that its Gibraltar registration would be stripped because it was meant to be a "survey vessel" but was being used for search and rescue work.

Its registration is due to be officially revoked on 20 August when it will revert to Germany, as the underlying owner is German.

On Tuesday the Maltese government said it would allow the ship to dock.

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Five EU countries agree to take in Aquarius rescue ship migrants

The Maltese government said it made a "concession" to allow the vessel to enter its port "despite having no legal obligation to do so" and will serve as a "logistical base".

"The Maltese government considers this to be a concrete example of European leadership and solidarity," it added.

Italy's far-right interior minister Matteo Salvini has previously said the Aquarius will "never see an Italian port" but the country's coastguard continues to rescue migrants.

Most of the people on board the ship are from Somalia or Eritrea.

Image: The ship at the dock in Malta

Spain will take 60 people, Germany up to 50, and Portugal will take 30.

France has said it will take 60 from the Aquarius as well as another rescue boat that arrived earlier in Malta.

Luxembourg is to take five migrants.

The decision was praised by SOS Mediterranee, which said it "shared out responsibilities in a co-ordinated European response".

Image: A child is held by a rescue worker on the Aquarius

UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said: "The situation should never have come to this in the first place."

The UN has called for an agreement to bring clarity and predictability as to where boats carrying rescued migrants can dock.

One of the doctors on the ship told AFP the passengers were exhausted and mentally scarred from their journeys, with one 13-year-old Somali boy witness to his parents' murder.

He was then tortured for months with electric shocks when he made it to Libya.