On Sunday we reported that about 150 migrants on board a German rescue ship sailing in the Mediterranean were to be transferred to another vessel and quarantined by Italy.

Italian authorities said the migrants, who were rescued off the Libyan coast last week, would undergo medical checks.

The Alan Kurdi ship, operated by the German humanitarian group Sea-Eye, has been refused access to Italian and Maltese ports over coronavirus fears.

Read more:Italy orders rescued migrants onto quarantine ship

On Monday afternoon, a spokesman for Sea-Eye, Simon Pompé, told the BBC the group did not know when the migrants would be moved but “would be grateful for this humanitarian act”.

Pompé said the German Foreign Ministry, which has been involved in assisting the ship, had yet to approve any decision to move the migrants.

He said the remaining migrants were “struggling” to cope in conditions he described as cramped and unsanitary.

“The atmosphere on board is extremely dire,” Pompé said, calling on the EU to help Italy and Malta relocate the migrants.

None of the migrants on board the Alan Kurdi had shown any symptoms of coronavirus, Pompé said.