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PALERMO, Italy, Sept 1 (NNN-ANSA) — Some 353 migrants rescued by the German NGO ship, Sea Watch 4, will go onto a quarantine ship after they reach Palermo, interior ministry sources said Tuesday.

They will be transhipped onto the ‘Gnv Allegra’, the third quarantine vessel laid on by the ministry, reported Italian news agency ANSA.

The operation will probably take place off Palermo.

Before the op, the Allegra will have to complete prescribed technical and sanitary inspections and take on board medical staff and assistants from the Italian Red Cross.

The transhipment will then take place.

The Sea Watch 4 is expected to reach Palermo in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Subsequently, the quarantine ship is expected to move to a position off Lampedusa.

Sicily Governor Nello Musumeci and Lampedusa Mayor Toto’ Martello will be received by Premier Giuseppe Conte in Rome on Wednesday, sources said Monday amid a migrant row.

Musumeci’s recent closure ordinance for the island’s migrant centres amid alleged COVID fears was suspended after a legal appeal by the government.

Martello, for his part, on Monday threatened a general strike on the Sicilian island due to the migrant emergency which has crammed its migrant centre past bursting point.

Lampedusa residents have protested migrant landings.

–NNN-ANSA