Yesterday morning at around 8 am, we came across a small, unseaworthy fiberglass boat deep in the southern part of our search area, in the Libyan search and rescue zone. The engine had broken down, leaving the 22 people on board adrift in the waves.
We quickly distributed life jackets to everyone and assessed the situation: water was coming into the boat, which was extremely unstable. After a short time, the crew decided to take everyone on board the Trotamar III to save them from drowning.
After informing the authorities about the situation, the Trotamar III set course for Lampedusa. Some time later, however, we received a distress call for 60 people on another boat and changed course to search for it. An unknown boat then appeared, claiming to be the Libyan coast guard, and ordered us to head directly north. We were thus forced to abandon the search for the 60 people. Their fate remains uncertain.
With the 22 people we rescued, we are now on our way to Lampedusa.