Mare Nostrum: Italian Navy Rescues about 4000 Migrants

Between Friday and Sunday, the Italian Navy ships have been involved in numerous rescue operations during which they rescued almost 4,000 migrants.

In the multiple operations of assistance to vessels coming from the North African coast several dead bodies were recovered.

The patrol boat Sirio rescued 73 immigrants from a boat in distress on Saturday night, and found 18 corpses on board the same vessel. The Sirio has also aided another vessel that approached Pozzallo, Sicily, during the night and found 266 migrants and 18 corpses.

The frigate Fasan reached Reggio Calabria on Sunday morning with 1373 migrants and a body recovered in the operations during Friday and Saturday.

With sea and weather conditions worsening north of the Libyan coast on Sunday night, a vessel carrying a large number of migrants turned upside down. A naval helicopter was immediately sent from Lampedusa to rescue the migrants. With the combined efforts of the patrol vessel Foscari , the corvette Fenice , the CP 904 and the merchant ship Burbon Orca, 362 people were rescued, six bodies were retrieved, and the search was continued for possible missing migrants.

The vessel San Giusto brought 1367 migrants to Crotone.

The patrol vessels CP401, 267 and 289 rescued 277 migrants in the port of Trapani.

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Naval Today Staff, August 26, 2014; Image: Italian Ministry of Defence