A CIVILIAN rescue ship that was kept at sea for five days finally began disembarking over 200 refugees in Italy today, following the dramatic evacuation of a child last night.

The Open Arms rescue ship saved the lives of 219 people in 24 hours at the weekend in waters that Malta is legally responsible for conducting search-and-rescue operations in.

Despite there being 56 children on board (17 of whom were under 10 years old), neither the Maltese nor Italian maritime authorities would authorise the ship to dock in any port.

Even though the Italian coastguards evacuated a six-month pregnant woman and her brother from the ship on Tuesday, the authorities would still not allow the Open Arms to come ashore.

Then yesterday evening Ilaf, a seven-year-old Libyan girl the crew saved on Saturday, collapsed, possibly due to epileptic attack, the crew said.

Monica Prieto, a freelance journalist on board the ship, warned  on social media above a picture of a doctor examining Ilaf that the girl had “vanished.”

“Our little seven-year-old ... is being revived by the medical team of the Open Arms,” Ms Prieto tweeted.

Later, above another picture of the patient now smiling and waving to camera, Ms Prieto said: “Ilaf is much better... [She is] recovering from a loss of consciousness thanks to the medical team on board the Open Arms. Rescued castaways require urgent safe harbour.”

Around an hour-and-a-half later, the Italian coastguards evacuated Ilaf, her five siblings and parents, and took them to shore.

The Open Arms announced this morning that it had finally been allowed to take the remaining survivors to Pozzallo, on the Italian island of Sicily.

“After five days at sea and two medical evacuations, the 209 people still on board will be able to receive the treatment they are entitled to.”

A spokesperson for the charity confirmed that the crew began disembarking the rescued at 11am local time this morning.