PLEAS from African migrants in unseaworthy craft expecting to be rescued by European authorities have been ignored by Maltese and Italian coast guards, reports NBC News.

"Our hotline was alarmed by a distress call from a boat at sea," read the email to Malta Rescue Coordination Centre sent by Alarm Phone, an unofficial hotline for migrants trying to reach Europe by crossing the Mediterranean.

While the obligation to go to the aid of vessels in distress is in the International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue, Malta has rejected 2004 amendments stipulating that states provide assistance to "disembarking persons found in distress at sea."