The Victoria, which was travelling towards the area of operation, received instructions from operation command to head towards a number of vessels floating adrift off the coast of Libya and provide assistance. The commander onboard the Spanish frigate immediately dispatched a helicopter from the ship to locate the boats whilst sailing at full speed to the rescue area. The helicopter from the third squadron sighted the vessels and reported back to the ship that there were two boats floating adrift, one of which was at risk of sinking.
The Victoria first assisted the vessel in most peril, taking approximately 100 people on board in less than one hour. As soon as this process was complete, the frigate went to assist the second boat (carrying another 100 people) and took all passengers on board with no major incident.
After the rescue, the migrants were transferred to a Swedish ship also forming part of Operation SOPHIA, which set sail for Italy in order to put these people ashore.
229 people were rescued in total, among them 28 women, 11 children and 190 men from various Sub-Saharan countries, as well as two corpses.
This was the first rescue undertaken by the Victoria since it joined the EU operation on 23 June. After the mission, the ship returned to its assigned area to continue its main mission in EUNAVFOR MED SOPHIA.
Ministerio de Defensa