A humanitarian organization announced the presence of a boat carrying 33 migrants stranded off the coast of Malta, seven days after it departed Libya.

Alarm Phone, affiliated with the 'Watch the Med' non-governmental organization, said on Thursday that the boat's engine stopped and the migrants needed immediate assistance.

The organization added that it was not "able to reestablish contact with the people in distress for about 5h" and that the Maltese "coastguards are not reachable".