During a sea journey from Turkey to Belgium, Jan De Nul crew on board the offshore installation vessel Simon Stevin noticed a sloop with 15 refugees on Thursday evening, 10 November. Eight men, two women and five children had been drifting for several days on the Mediterranean Sea, some 75 km off the coast of Algeria.
The crew took the refugees on board. All 15 were in good health, but weakened and hypothermic. The crew gave them food, drinks, warm clothing, a bed and blankets to recuperate. They spent the night on board and were picked up by the Algerian coastguard on Friday morning.