MIGRANTS have hijacked a merchant ship which rescued them off the coast of Libya and it is now sailing towards Malta.

Nationalist Italian interior minister Matteo Salvini branded the migrants as "pirates" after it was announced they were heading towards Malta.

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Mr Salvini said: "These are not migrants in distress, they are pirates, they will only see Italy through a telescope.

"This is clearly a case of organised crime.

"Our ports remain closed."

Italy has cracked down on illegal immigration, including closing the ports to charity ships.

The vessel, the Elhiblu 1,  had originally rescued migrants who were on a sinking ship after they had attempted to migrate via Libya.

The rescue boat was to then return the migrants back to the country.

It was then that the migrants took control of the tanker to stop them from returning to the country.

There are reports say that the military has been deployed.

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The ship is set to be approaching Maltese waters in two hours according to officials.

At 4pm local time today there had been no further communication from the tanker for 16 hours, it was reported by Maritime and Crimean Shipping News.

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