While our team was conducting training activities off the Sicilian coast, the Italian Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre contacted Geo Barents to assist an overcrowded boat in distress with 602 people onboard. After three hours of operation, the 602 survivors, including 11 women and 151 children, safely embarked the Geo Barents and are cared for by the medical team. The disembarkation will take place in Bari, the place of safety assigned by Italian authorities. It will take Geo Barents about 40 hours of navigation to reach the port.