AN NGO refugee rescue ship in the central Mediterranean waited hours today for help from the Maltese and Italian coastguards  that never came after the vessel saved the lives of 148 people, 28 more than it is legally allowed to carry.

Basque charity Humanitarian Maritime Rescue (SMH) announced in the morning that the Aita Mari had located 102 people — including a seven-month-old baby and two pregnant women — in a wooden boat within Malta's search-and-rescue zone (SAR).

“The rescue ship will now wait for the European authorities to assign, as required by law, the closest safe port,” SMH said after the first rescue.