A small German charity ship rescued 41 migrants aboard an “overloaded” metal boat in the Mediterranean on Wednesday, its crew said.

The crew of the Nadir, owned by RESQSHIP, a German NGO based in Hamburg, explained how they spotted an unstable, unruly vessel carrying migrants in Malta’s search and rescue zone.

During the rescue operation, which “lasted an hour”, the crew “was able to get on board all 41” people who were in the unstable boat, the NGO noted, adding on Twitter that they included a pregnant woman, a 4-year-old child and teenagers.

Italian authorities notified the Nadir crew that they could take the survivors to Lampedusa, a small island between Sicily and North Africa.

The metal float was left unruly due to engine failure.

The Nadir is a small sailboat – 18 meters long – with two sails and an engine, it cannot carry a large number of people. When participating in search and rescue missions, the crew usually provide first aid, waiting for older ones to pick up refugees and migrants.

Italy’s interior ministry counts more than 36,600 migrant arrivals by sea so far this year, compared to around 9,000 in the corresponding period of 2022.

Earlier yesterday, the Italian news agency ANSA reported that a reception center in Lampedusa with a nominal capacity of 400 people is hosting 2,600 migrants and several boats have reached the shores of the small island in recent days.