A group of 56 people was rescued from an overcrowded dinghy in the Libyan search-and-rescue SAR zone by the crew of the Ocean Viking on Wednesday (May 13), according to SOS Mediterranee, the non-governmental organization (NGO) operating the ship. Help came too late for one person. The man had been wrapped in a wool blanket and was unconscious when the crew arrived, and all efforts to resuscitate him failed, according to SOS Mediterranee. Survivors reportedly said that the man was from Bangladesh and had been severely beaten before the boat set off from Libya.

The Ocean Viking is currently headed towards Ravenna, a port in northeastern Italy assigned by authorities to the ship. They are expected to arrive on Saturday (May 16).

Pregnant woman evacuated to Malta after rescue operation

72 migrants were rescued from two dinghies in the central Mediterranean over the weekend in operations involving the ship Sea-Eye 5, according to a statement shared by Sea-Eye, the NGO running the ship, on Wednesday (May 13).

A group of 45 people was rescued from an overcrowded, unseaworthy rubber boat on Sunday (May 10) after an emergency call to Alarmphone, an NGO-run hotline monitoring Mediterranean journeys, according to Sea-Eye. The organization said that the boat had been spotted in the Libyan SAR and that a Libyan coast guard vessel had approached the boat.

Among the rescued group were reportedly a pregnant woman, a child and a baby, and several people who needed medical treatment. The pregnant woman’s medical condition was so dire that she had to be evacuated by helicopter to a hospital in Malta, according to Sea-Eye.

Italian authorities assigned the port of Catania, on the southern island of Sicily, for disembarkation, where the rescued people disembarked on Tuesday (May 12).

Another group of 27 people was rescued on Saturday (May 9) by the crew of the rescue ship Solidaire with the help of the crew of Sea-Eye 5, according to Sea-Eye.

The NGO Solidaire, which operates the ship under the same name, said on their homepage that they had rescued 44 people in waters between Italy and Libya on Saturday, and another 81 people on Sunday, and that they had been assigned the port of Bari, in southeastern Italy, for disembarkation, but did not provide further details.

More than 26,700 deaths since 2014

The central Mediterranean is one of the most frequented and dangerous sea routes for migrants attempting to reach Europe without visas. More than 26,700 people have died and gone missing on the route since IOM began tracking deaths in 2014. Many people who attempt the crossing are intercepted and returned to Libya and Tunisia, transit countries where many migrants face violence and dire living conditions.

NGOs running rescue missions in the central Mediterranean have recently renewed calls to the European Union and Italy to stop its collaboration with the Libyan coast guard, following an alleged attack on Sea-Watch 5 rescue ship earlier this month.