Maersk Containership Picks Up 113 Migrants Off Italy

Photo: MarineTraffic.com / Muhsen Hussein

COPENHAGEN, June 23 (Reuters) – The container ship Alexander Maersk picked up 113 migrants from a boat off southern Italy early on Friday, Maersk Line, part of A. P. Moller-Maersk , said on Saturday.

The ship had received a request from the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre to change its course late on Thursday and picked up the migrants at around 04.30 Friday morning local time, a spokesman from the company told Reuters.

22 June 00.35 #Lifeline RHIB Crew is assisting the container ship Alexander Maersk while the people have to climb a 5m knitting ladder.
photo credit: Danilo Campailla @sopaimages @fannycarrier @BBCWorld @nytimesphoto @AP @scandura @AngiKappa @annalisacamilli @Internazionale pic.twitter.com/SCiAvcV2nf

— Danilo Campailla (@danilocampailla) June 23, 2018

The ship is now south of Sicily awaiting further instructions from the authorities. The people on board are relatively well, taking into consideration their situation, the spokesman said. (Reporting by Teis Jensen Editing by Alexander Smith)

(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2018.

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