A small German charity ship rescued 47 migrants aboard a vessel in danger in the Mediterranean on Friday, including a pregnant woman and several children, its crew said.

The crew of the Nadir, owned by RESQSHIP, a German NGO based in Hamburg, explained how they spotted the unseaworthy vessel, which was in danger of capsizing, earlier yesterday.

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

This is the third migrant rescue operation in which the boat took part in as many days.

The day before, he offered help to 54 people on a wooden boat that was sailing unruly. The Nadir accompanied her for hours, until the Italian Coast Guard sent its patrol boat, which picked them up and sailed to Lampedusa.

Referring to yesterday’s rescue, RESQSHIP spokeswoman Kat Spagel said the vessel was “unstable” and “overloaded”, was “very low” in the water and those on board were “increasingly panicking”.

The migrants, mostly citizens of Guinea and the Ivory Coast, had set sail from the Tunisian city of Sfax on Thursday night, it said.

The Nadir is a small boat – 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.

However, on Wednesday the boat’s crew rescued and transported 41 migrants to Lampedusa.