Malta appears ready to allow the rescue ship Lifeline, stuck in international waters in the Mediterranean sea with more than 230 migrants aboard, to enter one of its ports after Italy refused, a French government spokesman said on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Malta government said no final decision had been taken, however if the ship was allowed in, it would be on the understanding that the 239 migrants on board would be shared among several EU states.
The ship has been idle off Malta for four days after picking up the migrants in the Libya rescue zone between Libya and Lampedusa. Both Italy and Malta had refused to let it in, criticising the captain for ignoring orders to let the Libyan coastguard pick the migrants.
The possible solution to the standoff was broached in discussions on Monday between French President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, spokesman Benjamin Griveaux was quoted by Reuters as saying.
"A European solution may be to have the ship dock in Malta. It is the solution that seems to be shaping up at the moment," Griveaux told RTL radio without elaborating.
An ill passenger is transferred from the Lifeline to an AFM launch."France would then be ready to send a team there to study individual (asylum) requests," he said.
A sick passenger was evacuated to Malta from the Lifeline on Monday-Tuesday night by an AFM launch.
Earlier on Tuesday, another standoff was resolved when the Italian authorities allowed a cargo ship carrying 106 migrants to dock at Pozzallo. It had been awaiting instructions outside the harbour for several days.
Leaders of the European Union failed on Sunday to come up with a joint position to tackle migration and will try again at a summit at the end of this week.
Earlier this month, a ship carrying more than 600 migrants, the Aquarius, was stranded similarly before it was accepted by Spain.