After waiting for a day and a half and dozens of emails and phone calls later, the good news finally arrvied yesterday: we were allowed to take the 53 people from the supply ship Maridive 208 on board. The people had rescued themselves from a rubber boat onto the anchored ship near the Miskar gas platform early Thursday morning.

In a difficult maneuver, the crew of the Trotamar III finally managed to take all of them on board yesterday evening – including two injured women who could only be transported lying down.

After an exhausting journey, we finally arrived in Lampedusa early this afternoon, where all 53 people were able to set foot on European soil after their days-long odyssey.