A Frontex-deployed Norwegian vessel brought 785 migrants to the port of Palermo, Italy, on Saturday morning after three Italian coast guard vessels rescued them from a wooden boat and a rubber dinghy off the Libyan coast on Thursday.
Siem Pilot, an 88-metre long offshore supply vessel is taking part in the Frontex-coordinated Operation Triton in the Central Mediterranean.
Among the rescued migrants there were 133 women and 27 children. Members of the crew gave plush toys, which they brought from Norway, to the children aboard.
“Some members of the crew spoke to their own kids at home to see what they can do to help the migrant children our ship would rescue. Together they decided to bring teddy bears. There’s plenty of them in Norway and these kids need to feel like real children,” said Erling Olstad, commander of Siem Pilot.
Most of the migrants said they came from Eritrea. On the way to Italy, the crew helped 30 migrants who required medical attention.
Olstad and his crew took part in five search and rescue operations since Siem Pilot joined Operation Triton three weeks ago. During one of the earlier rescues, the crew gave medical treatment to some 20 women who received chemical burns from a mixture of gasoline and seawater while they were sitting in their rubber dinghy in the hot sun.
Last week, more than 6 100 migrants were saved off the coast of Libya. Since the start of the year, some 81 500 migrants have been rescued in the Central Mediterranean, with one in four saved with the participation of vessels and aircraft deployed by Frontex.