Nov
They were disembarked at Lampedusa
On November 5th the Spanish Navy frigate “Canarias” rescued 442 men, 40 women, 33 children and 2 babies. The migrants were trying to reach Europe on board a mere 20-meter vessel.
The frigate received a call from a maritime patrol aircraft flying over the area which reported sighting the vessel with possibly a large number of migrants onboard. It was an old fishing boat carrying more than five hundred people in very precarious conditions.
Upon receiving the call, the Sea Hawk helicopter from the “Canarias” performed a reconnaissance flight and, in just twenty minutes, was able to locate the crowded wooden boat.
The rescue was successfully completed in six hours, and the vessel headed to the port of Lampedusa to transfer them to Italian authorities.
SPNS “Canarias” is deployed as part of the EUNAVFOR mission “Sophia” in the central Mediterranean Sea to prevent illegal human trafficking in the area.
