Humanitarian ship Louise Michel lands 47 rescued migrants at Crotone

On the night of 5‑6 June 2026 the NGO vessel Louise Michel intercepted a distress signal from a crowded gommone off Libya and rescued 47 Sub‑Saharan migrants whose boat was about to sink. The group – 24 men, 13 women, 10 children (including eight unaccompanied minors) – came mainly from Nigeria and Mali. Two pregnant women were taken to hospital for checks; the others passed health screenings conducted by the ASP vulnerability office and Red Cross volunteers. Because the ship’s water and fuel supplies were depleted, the planned disembarkation at Taranto was diverted to the nearest Italian port, Crotone, where the migrants were transferred to the reception centre on Isola Capo Rizzuto.

A day earlier, the Italian coast guard had rescued a separate vessel carrying 57 migrants from Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and Egypt. The boat, intercepted 80 nm off Calabria, was escorted to Crotone with the aid of a merchant ship. After health checks the entire group was also moved to the Isola Capo Rizzuto centre. These two operations mark the second and third migrant landings in Crotone within a five‑day span, underscoring the ongoing flow of people rescued in the central Mediterranean.