Jan De Nul’s Simon Stevin was sailing from Turkey to Belgium, about 75km off the coast of Algeria, when the crew spotted the “8 men, 2 women and 5 children who had been adrift in the Mediterranean for several days”, Jan De Nul stated on 16 November.

The rescue occurred on the evening of 10 November, the company said. “All 15 were healthy, but weak and hypothermic. The crew gave them food, drink, warm clothes, a bed and blankets to recuperate. They spent the night on board and were picked up by the Algerian coast guard on 11 November.”

Jan De Nul is a maritime infrastructure contractor, providing offshore facility installation and dredging services. It posted €1.7bn in turnover in 2021 and had 6,644 employees worldwide. Its global headquarters is in Capellen, while the largest part of its workforce is based in Belgium.