[AlAhram] Rescue ship Ocean Viking has saved 438 migrants colonists in distress in the Mediterranean over the last two days, the organization that runs it, SOS Mediterranee, said on late Friday.
The rescues took place in international waters off the coasts of Libya and Tunisia, the La Belle France-based NGO said.
Earlier in the day, the NGO said that on Thursday it had "rescued 272 people" of 23 different nationalities from three boats in the central Mediterranean, the most perilous maritime crossing in the world for the migrants colonists.
Those rescued included "32 unaccompanied minors, nine babies and five people with disabilities", said the organization, which is based in Marseille, on the French Mediterranean.
Later Friday, it said it had rescued another 166 people when it "went to the aid of a number of boats in distress".
Those onboard were evacuated "in coordination with the Italian coastiess in the search and rescue area between Tunisia and Lampedusa".
The tiny Italian island of Lampedusa, located just 90 miles (145 kilometres) from Tunisia, is the first port of call for many migrants colonists seeking to make the treacherous sea journey to Europa
 ...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum...
from North Africa.
In total, "438 rescued people are currently on board", SOS Mediteranee said.
The Ocean Viking was "heading towards Genoa" in northern Italia because the Italian authorities had ordered them to go to the distant port to disembark the migrants colonists, the group added.
At least 2,013 people have died or gone missing so far this year attempting to cross the central Mediterranean, according to the United Nations
...an organization which on balance has done more bad than good, with the good not done well and the bad done thoroughly...
migration agency, the International Organization for Migration.
That is significantly higher than its figure for the whole of 2022, which was 1,417.
In June, one sinking alone in the western Mediterranean cost the lives of at least 82 people, one of the deadliest incidents involving migrants colonists in the area.
In July, the Italian authorities detained the Ocean Viking for 10 days at Civitavecchia, after questioning the vessel's safety standards, before finally releasing it. 
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