Yesterday the crew of the Trotamar III received a distress call for a boat in the Tunisian Search & Rescue zone and set off in search of the overcrowded rubber boat. At 7pm, the crew found the boat with over 90 people on board. At this point, it was already dark. Water had gotten into the boat and the tubes had already lost air, so the boat had a very poor stability.

Due to the very dangerous situation for the people in the rubber boat, the crew decided to bring as many of them as possible on board the Trotamar III. Around 60 people have been rescued from the boat. However, more than 20 people were still in the unseaworthy boat.

The crew made several distress calls and asked the authorities to send a larger rescue ship as quickly as possible.

During the night, the Sea Eye 5 came to the aid of the Trotamar III on the instructions of the authorities. The ship arrived at the scene at around 4 a.m. and was able to rescue the remaining 31 people from the rubber boat. The Trotamar III and the Sea Eye 5 are now on their way to Lampedusa together.