The migrants, mostly women and children, refused to leave the cruise ship after arriving at the southern Cypriot port of Limassol on Thursday.

"We were supposed to sail at 10:30 tonight (2130 UTC), unfortunately these people want to negotiate," said Salamis Cruise Lines Managing Director Kikis Vassiliou. "They want us to send them to Italy."

"The authorities, they have to decide what they want us to do," he added.

Refusal to disembark

Cypriot officials said the migrants were to be taken to a reception center near the capital, Nicosia, where they would be given shelter and medical treatment until authorities determined how to deal with them.

Dozens of civil defense officials, medical staff and police were waiting dockside when the vessel arrived. Only a small group of migrants disembarked to negotiate with authorities, Vassiliou said, and talks broke off when they returned to the ship.

"We did our outmost to save their lives, to give them food, support and now they want to destroy this company," he said, citing "several hundred thousand" euros in losses incurred when a trip carrying 300 mainly Russian tourists to Israel that was scheduled to depart late Thursday had to be canceled.

"There is no responsible person to negotiate and to explain the situation," Vassiliou added.

Dangerous journey

The migrants issued a distress call from a small trawler early on Thursday after encountering heavy seas and strong winds near Cyprus' southern coastal town of Paphos. The cruise ship was returning to Cyprus from the Greek islands when Cypriot Search and Rescue authorities requested the ship assist in the rescue operation.

The Cypriot Defense Ministry said the migrant boat had "most likely" departed from Syria carrying "civilian refugees."

More than 2,500 people have drowned or gone missing attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea from the Middle East and North Africa on rickety and overcrowded boats, according to the UN's refugee agency.

Some 500 people were feared dead earlier this month after their boat sank off Malta. Just 10 passengers survived.

dr/jm (AFP, AP)