German combat support ship EGV Frankfurt am Main has rescued 361 migrants and taken up another 254, previously rescued by Royal Navy’s HMS Enterprise, on March 15.
In the morning hours of March 15, Operation Sophia ship Frankfurt am Main was sent to respond to a rubber boat sighting around 90 kilometers northwest of Tripoli, Libya. The crew of the German ship managed to get 125 migrants from a rubber boat on board by noon.
The ship was then tasked to respond together with HMS Enterprise to another emergency, 10 kilometers from the first one. While the ship was sailing towards the destination, it took up additional 236 people from two unseaworthy boats. The Frankfurt am Main was supported by the MS Aquarius, a ship belonging to the SOS Méditerranée organization, which also took a number of people on board.
Frankfurt am Main subsequently reached the position of HMS Enterprise a took up 254 people that were previously rescued from sea.
Overall, there are now 615 persons on board the combat support ship that is expected to reach the Italian port of Pozallo on March 16, at around 1300 hours. Once there, the ship will disembark the migrants and hand them over to Italian authorities.
According to German Navy, this latest rescue operation has brought the total number of persons saved by the German in the Mediterranean to 12,849.