Sailors rescued migrants that had been stranded for four days in the Mediterranean Sea.

Crew from the Turkish tanker Beks Bodrum were headed to Malta when they received a distress call from the boat drifting off Tunisia on March 24.

Footage shows the passengers packed together on the flimsy blue vessel as they struggled to grab onto ropes being lowered from the Turkish tanker.

The tanker's chief engineer Sonny Sison said: 'At first, we were just going to call the coast guards to save them. But when we approached, the small boat started rocking and almost capsized as the passengers jostled to reach for the food we were handing to them.'

The crew pulled the migrants onboard and waited for the Italian Coast Guard to arrive.

Authorities said 139 refugees, including Syrians, Palestinians, Egyptians, Algerians, and Ethiopians, were rescued. They were handed over to the Italian Coast Guard.

The Mediterranean Sea is one of the deadliest routes for migrants, with at least 3,129 deaths and disappearances recorded in 2023, according to the International Organization for Migration.

Many of the them are people from North Africa hoping to reach the shores of southern Europe.