The crew of the Ocean Viking rescue ship operated by SOS Mediterranee picked up 71 migrants off the coast of Libya on Monday evening.
“Ocean Viking rescued 71 persons from a severely overcrowded rubber boat taking water in the Libyan search and rescue region,” read a message on the X page (formerly known as Twitter) from the private rescue organization SOS Mediterranee on Monday (January 29).
The boat had first been spotted by the reconnaissance plane Seabird 1, according to SOS Mediterranee. Among those brought on board the Ocean Viking are five woman, including one who is pregnant, and 16 unaccompanied minors.
The Italian rescue coordination center has directed the crew of the Ocean Viking towards the Tuscan port of Livorno on Italy’s west coast. The crew of the ship pointed out in their X thread that from the point of rescue, Livorno was over 1,000 kilometers away and the weather was due to worsen over the next few days.