Over 300 migrants are set to disembark in Pozzallo, after Italy agreed to take in the rescue boats Louise Michel and Sea-Watch.
The boat, funded by British artist Banksy had issued urgent calls for assistance, saying it was stranded in the Mediterranean and overloaded with migrants saved at sea.
The coastguard said a patrol boat dispatched from the southern Italian island of Lampedusa had taken on board 49 of “those considered most vulnerable” among the 219 migrants picked up by the ship since Thursday off the coast of Libya.
Named after a French feminist anarchist, the Louise Michel started operating last week. Despite the help from Italy, it has still not found a safe port for the rest of the mainly African migrants on board.
The 49 people who were transferred off the ship include 32 women and 13 children, the Italian coastguard said.
The Louise Michel, a German boat manned by a crew of 10, issued a series of tweets overnight and on Saturday saying its situation was worsening, and appealing for help from authorities in Italy, Malta and Germany.
Meanwhile, Sea-Watch said that the migrants had been found in dinghies and fibreglass boats. Some of them reported fuel burns and many exhibited signs of dehydration, it said. One person was found dead.
Those rescued will first be transferred to a ship for quarantine
