Sixty-two African migrants onboard the Open Arms rescue ship celebrated after Italian authorities finally agreed to grant the vessel access to a port for disembarkation.
Migrants were seen dancing and singing after crew members announced that they were going to be disembarked on the day after.
Italy initially refused entry for the group of 73 African migrants which the Open Arms crew plucked out of a packed rubber dinghy drifting about 50 miles off Libya on Wednesday, suggesting that the vessel should instead put them ashore in Tripoli.
Among the group of mostly Central and West Africans are three women, two toddlers and 24 unaccompanied minors who braved the dangerous crossing in search of a better life in Europe.
So far this year, there have been nearly 1,000 confirmed deaths on the three main migration routes across the Mediterranean, according to the International Organisation for Migration.