According to Fernando Rocha Pacheco, the small vessel, seven metres long, was sighted at about 4am by a fishing master, who considered her suspicious for being "loaded with people", warning the authorities.

The 22 occupants of the vessel "claim to be Moroccan" and will have left the city of El-Jadida, in Morocco, bound for Portugal, added the same source.

After the alert, elements from the Faro Maritime Police and the Quarteira Lifeboat Station started searching by sea and land, having detected and intercepted the vessel at 4:50am, when the crew "were already preparing to disembark".

The 22 men were then taken to Quarteira's lifeguard station, where they are currently being surveyed, at about 8am, added Fernando Rocha Pacheco.

In a statement released in the meantime, the National Maritime Authority says that the group of migrants is being watched by a team from the National Institute of Medical Emergency (INEM) and will be subjected to covid-19 screening tests.

The Criminal Investigation Service of the Southern Maritime Police Regional Command is already at the scene to collect evidence and the Aliens and Borders Service (SEF) is on its way to the scene, the statement concludes.

This is the second case involving migrants allegedly of Moroccan origin who landed in the Algarve, after last week the authorities detected a vessel with seven men off Olhão.