The Egyptian military has said naval forces were able to rescue an Italian ship with six people aboard that was in distress off the coast of Matrouh governorate, a statement by the armed forces read on Thursday.

In a statement, spokesperson Tamer El-Refai said the vessel, named Arabesque, sent out a mayday to the Egyptian armed forces’ search and rescue unit after a malfunction in one of the ship’s engines.

The ship was located 116 miles off the Egyptian coastline when Egyptian naval forces came to its assistance.