Over 1,500 migrants saved in major central Mediterranean operation

The Malta-based Migrant Offshore Aid Station has rescued between 1,500 and 1,800 in the Central Mediterranean in a major overnight operation.

The private search and rescue company said in a statement that the people were rescued from nine vessels, including seven rubber boats and two wooden ones. Women, children and medical cases took precedence as 453 people were brought safely on board the Phoenix. As the boat’s maximum capacity was reached, life jackets and basic provisions were then administered to the 1,000 or so remaining people who remained stranded on the vessels. MOAS crew remained on site to supervise them to ensure that they remained safe.

The migrants are being transported to Italy.

“Every day people continue to risk their lives while we, as civil society, stand witness,” MOAS director Regina Catrambone said. “We must continue to call on European governments to act so that people, such as those rescued by us today, do not die, nor in Libya nor in the Mediterranean Sea.

Her husband and co-MOAS founder Christopher Catrambone said that this weekend’s events was unprecedented and that it was a “miracle” that MOAS managed to rescue everyone with no casualties.

In the early hours between Friday and Saturday, MOAS was involved in another joint search and rescue mission in the central Mediterranean in which 2,400 migrants trying to reach Europe were rescued and sent to Italy.