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The 63 immigrants disappeared after their ship sank on Sunday (1), ahead of Libya, a spokesman for the Libyan navy told AFP Tuesday (3), citing the testimony of the rescuers.
According to General Ayub Kacem, 41 migrants were saved with the aid of lifejackets.
"The Coast Guard did not find any bodies in place," he said.
Rescuers reported that there were 104 people aboard the ship, until they were wrecked near Garabulli, about 50 kilometers to the east of Tripoli.
For months this area is the main point of exit of the full of immigrants boats that are likely to attempt the dangerous crossing of the Mediterranean to reach Italy.
In addition to the 41 survivors, a Libyan coast guard vessel docked on Monday in Tripoli with 235 other immigrants on board – including 54 children and 29 women – rescued in two other operations in the same area.
The boat arrived almost 24 hours late due to a breakdown, Kacem explained.
Last Friday, the Libyan coastguard saved 16 immigrants who survived a disaster near Tripoli. That day, the bodies of three babies were found and more than 100 people were missing in the wreckage of their ship, also in front of Garabulli.
Since Friday, the Libyan Coast Guard has rescued or intercepted more than a thousand immigrants. Once on land, the Libyan authorities take these immigrants to detention centers.
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), about 1,000 people have died since the beginning of the year trying to cross the Mediterranean.
"The number of deaths at sea off the Libyan coast is increasing alarmingly," warned Ominman Belbeisi, IOM's chief of mission in Libya on Monday.
"Traffickers exploit the desperation of migrants before Europe represses crossings of the Mediterranean," he said in a statement.
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