Lampedusa , Italy ( CNN ) The cramped galley of the ship is filled with the smell of fresh garlic frying in olive oil . Gaetano Cortese , a tall , thin , sunburned 27-year veteran of Italy 's Guardia di Finanza ( Finance Police ) is waxing eloquent on his favorite subject : food . `` We picked it this morning from the hills of Lampedusa , '' he declares with a flourish , waving thin sprigs of wild asparagus under my nose . He demonstrates how you must break it apart with your fingers , bit by bit , until you get to the hard part , which you keep aside to boil down in water for the pasta sauce he is preparing with his shipmate , Enzo Idone . Cooking , however , may be a positive distraction from dark memories . How I was smuggled into Europe -- and why it was worth it . We boarded the Finance Police 's ship , the Calabrese , in Lampedusa harbor earlier in the evening . The Calabrese regularly patrols the Mediterranean off Lampedusa , which is Italy 's southernmost territory and just 70 miles , or just over 110 kilometers , from the Tunisian coast . In recent years , it has been the first point of entry to Europe for tens of thousands of migrants from Africa and the Middle East . A few years ago , the Calabrese was on the look out for `` contrabandisti , '' smugglers trafficking in cigarettes and drugs . But in recent years , its 12-man crew has joined Italy 's effort to rescue migrants coming from Africa and the Middle East . We spend seven hours on board the ship , but nothing much happens . We see some Italian fishing boats the crew knew by sight . Shortly after sunset , the Calabrese 's captain , Gianluca Busonera , begins calling out quick orders to his men as we approach a small boat . The easy-going crew seem to tense up . One man turns on a bright spotlight and focuses the beam on the boat , while another with powerful binoculars read out the name on the back . Busonera peers intently at the boat , which appears to be a fishing vessel , then shrugs . `` It 's fine , '' he tells me . `` If it were low in the water , we 'd know it was full of people , but this boat is riding high . '' He waves to the Tunisian boat , where an older man in a jacket waves back . Busonera gives him a thumbs up , and steers the ship to the right . It 's a routine evening for the Calabrese , and that is just fine with the crew . They 've seen enough troubles in their time to appreciate an uneventful day 's work . Back in the galley , I ask Cortese about his worst experience while serving at sea with the Guardia di Finanza . He and most of his shipmates took part in the rescue effort on October 3 , 2013 , after a ship with hundreds of migrants had gone down off Lampedusa . More than 350 people died in that disaster . The crew of the Calabrese was able to rescue four of the survivors . Cortese 's cheery demeanor suddenly becomes serious . `` I still remember pulling out of the water , with our hands , a young , pregnant woman who had just died , '' he recalls . `` There were children , '' adds his crewmate , Idone , shaking his head . `` We recovered the bodies of children . It was a bad situation . I remember the body of a boy we recovered . We put him in a body bag . His head was in this hand , '' he said waving his hand as if he had just picked up the lifeless body . Why migrants are risking their lives to reach Italy . Cortese and Idone stress that as fathers , there is nothing worse than having to see the bodies of dead children . `` At the moment , '' recalls Cortese , `` we were too busy to think about it , but when we go home , before going to sleep , it comes back to us . '' He emphasizes that he and his shipmates were just doing their duty as professional military men . Out in the Mediterranean , with no land in sight , you realize just how vast it is . And although it 's been warm on land in Sicily recently , at night on the water , it 's cold and windy . On board the Calabrese , we are warm , well-fed and in good company . The ship is well-maintained and equipped with state-of-the-art equipment , allowing Busonera to plow confidently through the waves in the dark without fear of running into anything . It contrasts starkly with conditions migrants have recounted to us of the rickety boats and unseaworthy rubber dinghies they use to try to cross the Mediterranean . Often they 're without food , water or shelter , their boat 's crew inexperienced and untrained . That 's if they have a crew at all . Many migrants have been beaten and robbed of all their possessions before they board . And unless a ship like the Calabrese comes to their rescue , death at sea is a definite possibility .
captain Wedeman operates the Calabrese , an Italian patrol vessel as it traverses the archipelago looking for migrants . Often the migrants have little to report , only coming across fishing boats or other commercial vessels . The Calabrese was involved in a rescue in October 2004 , during which more than 350 people drowned .