A MAERSK Line containership, the Alexander Maersk, which rescued 113 migrants off Italy's southern coast have arrived in the southern port of Pozzallo in Sicily on Tuesday.
The vessel changed its course after picking up a distress signal early on June 22, the carrier's spokesman Mikkel Elbek Linnet told AFP. He could neither specify where exactly the migrants were rescued nor when the distress signal was picked up.
The ship had been waiting off the coast of Sicily to be assigned a port since Friday, the ship owner had said.
The mayor of Pozzallo, who supervised the arrival, said he was happy that the Italian interior minister had allowed the Maersk to dock after he had made specific requests.
The Maersk move to rescue the migrants is part of 'an ancient code of conduct,' according to Mr Linnet.
'It's not the first time...they have picked up migrants two or three times before in recent years,' he told AFP.
The vessel changed its course after picking up a distress signal early on June 22, the carrier's spokesman Mikkel Elbek Linnet told AFP. He could neither specify where exactly the migrants were rescued nor when the distress signal was picked up.
The ship had been waiting off the coast of Sicily to be assigned a port since Friday, the ship owner had said.
The mayor of Pozzallo, who supervised the arrival, said he was happy that the Italian interior minister had allowed the Maersk to dock after he had made specific requests.
The Maersk move to rescue the migrants is part of 'an ancient code of conduct,' according to Mr Linnet.
'It's not the first time...they have picked up migrants two or three times before in recent years,' he told AFP.