The Norwegian supply ship ‘Siem Pilot’ picked up 510 people from boats from the Mediterranean on Easter Sunday, the EU frontier force Frontex Tweeted.
According to the notification the people were rescued within a few hours.
Norway has since 2015 contributed with two ships for Frontex to deal with the large number of migrants and refugees travelling from Africa across the Mediterranean with the hope of reaching Europe.
‘Siem Pilot’ is the larger vessel involved in the operation Triton in the central Mediterranean, on a contract that expires May 15th this year. The lifesaving vessel ‘Peter Henry von Koss’ is participating in Operation Poseidon off the coast of Greece. This contract expires on June 15th.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in March stated that Norway intends to continue to offer vessels for rescue operations after the current agreements expire.
Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today
