FROLAND

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Rescued migrants brought ashore in Pozzallo

17 migrants rescued after the latest deadly shipwreck in the Mediterranean were brought ashore in Pozzallo by the Italian authorities on March 13. They were all originally from Bangladesh. 30 people were feared drowned after the boat they were traveling in from Libya capsized in bad weather on March 12. The tragedy followed a Feb. 26 shipwreck near the southern region of Calabria, in which at least 81 people died. Alarm Phone which picks up calls from migrant vessels in distress, blamed Italy for not sending its Coastguard earlier despite being repeatedly alerted on March 11 that the boat was in trouble. "Clearly, the Italian authorities were trying to avoid that the people would be brought to Italy, delaying intervention so that the so-called Libyan coastguard would arrive and forcibly return people to Libya," it said in a statement on March 12. Italy's coastguard said the capsizing occurred outside the Italian SAR area, about 110 miles northwest of the Libyan port of Benghazi. According to a phone conversation transcript shared by German charity Sea-Watch, a duty officer at the Libyan Joint Rescue Coordination Centre said that at the time there were no patrol boats that could be sent from Benghazi. Rome requested merchant ships in the area to join the rescue efforts. The migrant vessel capsized during an attempt to transfer the occupants to the 'Froland' in the morning of March 12. Rome's ability to rescue migrants at sea has come under scrutiny following last month's shipwreck, and the issue is piling pressure on the rightwing government which took office last October promising to curb the influx of migrants. The Italian government on Marhc 13 said Russian mercenary group Wagner, which has been accused of operating in several African countries including Libya, was to blame for the surge in crossing attempts as part of Moscow's strategy to retaliate against countries supporting Ukraine. Report with photo: https://www.marinelink.com/news/survivors-libya-shipwreck-brought-ashore-503597

Cargo ship rescued 17 migrants off Libya, about 30 more missing

Some 30 migrants were missing after a shipwreck on March 12, 2023, off the coast of Libya, 17 more people were rescued by the 'Froland'. NGOs had reported that a boat carrying 47 people was drifting about 100 kilometers from the Libyan coast. The rescue organization Alarm Phone alerted the Rome Relief Coordination Center on March 11 of the presence of the boat in distress, as well as the Maltese and Libyan authorities. The Libyan authorities, responsible for SAR efforts in this area, reported a lack of availability of boats and asked for help from Rome, which sent three other merchant ships to the area. The 'Froland' started the rescue on March 12 at first light, but the migrant boat capsized during the operation. After embarking 17 migrants, the "Froland" headed for Malta to drop off two people in need of urgent medical attention. Ships are still on site to try to find missing people, with the assistance of two Frontex planes. The accident occurred two weeks after the sinking of a boat off Calabria carrying some 180 people, which left 79 people dead and bodies continuing to wash up on the shore every day.

Allision in Brunsbüttel

On May 6, 2018, at 2 a.m. the Antigua-Barbuda-flagged container m/v "Froland", 6668 gt (IMO-No.: 9505584), allided with the side wall of the Northern lock of the Kiel Canal in Brunsbüttel while exiting towards the Elbe. The ship caused damage in a covering of the lock. After investigations the ship was allowed to resume the voyage from Loviisa to Mostaganem at 3 a.m., ETA May 13. The cause of the accident was a steering mistake.