Doctors Without Borders Ship Rescues 97 Migrants in Mediterranean

Medecins sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders, or MSF) has rescued 97 migrants from a rubber boat in the Mediterranean, the organization said Monday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The Bourbon Argos, one of three ships chartered by the MSF, has been conducting search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean since May 9. The three MSF ships have rescued over 18,000 people in the central Mediterranean since May, according to the organization's website.

BREAKING: A rescue is underway in the #Mediterranean where the #Argos is assisting ~120 #people from a rubber boat pic.twitter.com/zbWDOMfJpw

— MSF Sea (@MSF_Sea) 7 декабря 2015

"A rescue is underway in the #Mediterranean where the #Argos is assisting ~120 #people from a rubber boat," MSF said on its official Twitter account, later specifying that the rescue is over with 97 having been taken aboard.

Fewer boats are expected to attempt to cross the Mediterranean in the coming winter months, Bourbon Argos Emergency Coordinator Sebastien Stein said in late November. However, deadly incidents are now more likely, he warned.

The MSF mission was launched in the aftermath of the April 19 tragedy, when a vessel used by smugglers capsized off the Libyan coast, killing an estimated 700 migrants.

Over 850,000 migrants have arrived to Europe's Mediterranean shores in 2015, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Over 3,500 people have died or gone missing while attempting to cross the Mediterranean on the way to Europe, according to the latest IOM figures.