SEA-EYE 4

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Course/Position

Latest news

52 migrants rescued in Maltese SAR zone

The 'Sea Eye 4' rescued 52 boat people in the central Mediterranean on the evening of May 20. Two people required emergency medical care. The operation took place in the Maltese SAR zone. On the afternoon, the ship received an emergency call from the rescue ship 'Mare*Go', which had found the unseaworthy and overcrowded fiberglass boat and was able to equip the occupants with life jackets and stabilize the boat. Since the weather was threatening to worsen, the 'Sea Eye 4' was notified, which arrived at the scene after about a two-hour voyage. Upon arrival, the boat was no longer able to reach a safe port under its own power. Two of the migrants were initially unable to get on board independently due to severe pain and had to be hoisted out of the boat using a rescue seat. Fortunately, the initial suspicion of a head or spinal injury was not confirmed during the examination in the on-board hospital, and the condition improved over time with pain medication. At around 10:30 p.m., the 'Sea Eye 4' had successfully completed the evauation. Most of the castaways wree from Syria. The weather conditions deteriorated significantly during the night, but despite of this, Ravenna has been assigned to disembark the migrants, which meant five more days on the Mediterranean with an ETa as of May 25. Several patients complained of painful bruises that they sustained during the turbulent crossing in the overcrowded boat. Due to the bad weather and high waves, many of those rescued also were suffering from seasickness. The health checks that have been carried out so far and have revealed no further serious illnesses.

NGO to file a complaint against Italian authorities for blocking rescue ships

The German NGO Sea Eye has announced its intention to file a complaint against the Italian authorities for the seizure of the "Sea Eye 4" for 60 days in the port of Reggio Calabria. In recent hours, the 144 migrants rescued by the humanitarian ship in the central Mediterranean, including 20 unaccompanied minors, two babies and several families, have disembarked in this port. The first group of 84 migrants were from different countries such as Gambia, Ivory Coast, Somalia, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Guinea, Mali, Senegal and Ghana, while the second group of 60 migrants came from Syria, Egypt, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sudan and Burkina Faso. The NGO will initiate proceedings before the competent courts, thus contesting the reason given for the blocking. According to Italian authorities, the ship interrupted a Libyan Coastguard operation, which Sea Eye categorically disputes. A boat of the so-called Coastguard arrived at high speed, while the 'Sea Eye 4' had already started to evacuate the inflatable boat in distress. Additionally,the Libyans acted recklessly by pointing their weapons at the crew of the rescue ship. Furthermore, the humanitarian ship “Sea Watch 5” has also been blocked for 20 days by the Italian authorities in the port of Pozzuolo, in southern Italy, after disembarking 51 migrants and the body of a deceased young man. Sea Watch contested this decision and planned to challenge the measure in court, emphasizing the importance of not hindering rescue operations at sea. In addition, the Italian Supreme Court recently established jurisprudence by considering that Libya was not a safe port, thus opening the way to possible appeals by relief NGOs and calling into question the Italian government's migration policy.

NGO ship detained for 60 days

After the arrival in Reggion Cantabria on Mach 10 with a total of 145 rescued migrants on board, the Italian authorities detained the 'Sea Eye 4' for 60 days and justified this by saying that the helpers in the Mediterranean took refugees on board even though Libya's (so-called) Coastguard was ready to take them. The aid organization said such action would have violated international law. The migrants were picked up from boats that had made the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean to Europe from Africa.