An NGO ship Ocean Viking rescued 118 migrants including 31 Pakistanis in the Mediterranean Sea in two separate operations.

The first group of 51 migrants was rescued from a wooden boat in distress on Thursday, according to a tweet by SOS Mediterranee, the French charity that operates the ship. The migrants were mainly of Pakistani and Eritrean nationality and among them were one pregnant woman and five children. The engines of their boat had reportedly stopped working, 30 kilometers off the Italian island of Lampedusa. According to news agency AFP, most migrants on the boat did not have lifejackets.

That rescue operation reportedly took place at the crossroads between the Italian and Maltese search and rescue zones.

Later on Thursday, another 67 migrants -- mostly men and youths from Bangladesh and Morocco -- were picked up by the Ocean Viking about 100 kilometers off Lampedusa, according to AFP. SOS Mediterranee said that the boat had been spotted by the Moon Bird, a surveillance plane that is operated by another migrant rescue charity, Sea-Watch.

SOS Mediterranee said that COVID-19 protocols were being “carefully implemented” and that the migrants’ health was being monitored. The migrants were given masks and their temperatures were checked, according to an AFP correspondent on the ship. One person, who was running a temperature, was reportedly quarantined as a precaution.

SOS Mediterranee said that it had asked both Malta and Italy for a port to disembark.

The Mediterranean crossing is one of the world’s most dangerous migrant routes. Each year, hundreds if not thousands of migrants lose their lives, trying to make it from Northern Africa to Southern Europe in small boats. More than 110,000 migrants tried to cross the Mediterranean last year and more than 1,200 died in the attempt, according to the UN migration agency IOM. At least 365 people have died trying to cross the Mediterranean so far this year.

Many experts believe that the number of migrants who set off on the Mediterranean will increase over the next few months because summer weather usually leads to more favourable conditions at sea.