Giorgi Gogitidze, one of the sailors onboard the vessel that rescued the group, told Batumelebi Tengo Diasamidze, a Senior Assistant to the Captain, noticed the small boat in the Gulf of Cadiz, 185 kilometres west of Gibraltar.

"When he looked through the binoculars, the people on the boat were calling for help. He immediately informed the Captain, Aleko Surmanidze. The Captain made a decision that we would help”, Gogitidze said.

The Georgian sailors lowered a rescue ladder into the ocean and pulled out the migrants in their effort. 

The migrants were eventually taken from the vessel by the Spanish border police.