List of ships for the rescue of refugees in the Mediterranean Sea

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List of migrant and refugee rescue ships operating in the Mediterranean Sea names selected ships run by NGOs due to the migration across the Mediterranean Sea. They were variously chartered, donated, or bought specifically for this purpose.[1][2][3]

List[]

This sortable table is by default listed in order of the vessels' names:

Ship Organization Flag Length Comment Image
Aita Mari Salvamento Marítimo Humanitario (SMH)[4][5]  Spain 32 m[6] Blocked in Spain, Jan. - April 2019; Seized, Palermo May - Dec 2020. Resumed operations in Dec 2020 and (after pause due to accident to captain) ~Jan 2021[4]
Alan Kurdi

(later ResQ PEOPLE)

Sea-Eye[4] then Proem-Aid[7] then [8]  Germany 38.6 m Formerly oceanographic vessel Professor Albrecht Penck. Began Dec. 2018; Seized, Palermo, May - June 2020; Seized, Olbia, Oct. 2020.[4] Acquired by ''in July 2021 and renamed .[9][10] Professor Albrecht Penck Alan Kurdi
Mediterranea Saving Humans[11]  Italy 18 m[12] Sailing yacht; seized, Lampedusa, July 2019 - Feb. 2020.[4] MSH also operate the Mare Jonio
Aquarius Médecins Sans Frontières / SOS Méditerranée  Gibraltar 77 m Mission ended in December 2018.[13] Followed by Ocean Viking Aquarius
Astral Proactiva Open Arms  Spain 30 m[14] Sailing yacht; Began SAR operations June 2016. Periods of maintenance since.[4] Proactiva Open Arms also operate Golfo Azzurro and Open Arms[15]
Bourbon Argos[16] Médecins Sans Frontières (Belgium)  Luxembourg 69 m Bourbon Argos operated 2015–2016; see also Dignity I (2015–2016); Followed by Prudence (2016–2017) -Mission stopped in August 2017. MSF have also worked with MOAS, SOS Méditerranée, and Mediterranea Saving Humans.
Dignity 1
(later Sea-Watch 3) 		Médecins Sans Frontières[17]  France 50 m[18] Stopped operations 2016[4] Transferred to Sea-Watch NGO, Renamed Sea Watch 3[19]
Geo Barents[20] Médecins Sans Frontières  Norway 77 m[21] Former seismic vessel built 2007.[21] Missions started 13 May 2021.[21] In June 2021 ~400 migrants rescued by Geo Barents and landed in Augusta,[22] but then detained by Italian authorities on 2 July 2021.[23] Geo Barents, Stavanger Harbour, 2012
Golfo Azzurro[24] Proactiva Open Arms  Panama 40 m Proactiva Open Arms also operate a sailing yacht Astral,[15] and Open Arms
VOS Hestia Save the Children (operation Rescue at sea)[25]  Italy 59 m Stopped 3 month operation in October 2016[3]
Iuventa[26] Jugend Rettet  Netherlands 33 m Seized in Trapani (Sicily) since August 2017 on allegation of cooperation with migrant smugglers
RESQSHIP[27]  Germany 14 m[28] Sailing yacht; operated April - Oct. 2019; Resqship resumed operations in June 2021[4] with newer 18m ketch, the .[29]
Life
(ex-Seefuchs) 		Proem-Aid  Spain 26 m Intended for use for training and raising awareness[30]
Lifeline
(ex-Sea-Watch 2)[31] 		Mission Lifeline  Netherlands 32 m Seized, Malta, July 2018.[4] Lifeline
M.V. Louise Michel none  Germany 30.3 m Former French Navy boat, refitted to perform search and rescue; registered as pleasure craft. Active from August 2020,[32] blocked by EU authorities from leaving port of Borriana (Burriana, Spain) since Oct 2020 due to registration issues.[4] La vedette des douanes françaises SUROIT.JPG
Mare Jonio Mediterranea Saving Humans  Italy 37.5 m Active since October 2018.[33] Declared subject to mandatory maintenance work- in port -Venice (Italy)- since Nov. 2020[4] MSH also operate the sailing vessel Alex.
Mare Liberum
(ex-Sea-Watch) 		Mare Liberum (NGO),[34] formerly operated by Sea-Watch  Germany 21 m Formerly SEA-WATCH; renamed upon transfer to Mare Liberum. Since 2017 no longer a rescue ship but monitors the Aegean.[35] "Mare Liberum"
Minden Lifeboat Project / German Sea Rescue Society[36]  Germany 23 m Aegean Sea, March 2016 - July 2016; Libya / Lampedusa, July 2016 - September 2017. No longer operational[3] Minden
Mission Eleonore[4] Mission Lifeline  Germany 20 m[37][38] Former fishing boat, registered as a pleasure boat.[39] Began August 2019; Seized, Pozzallo, Sept. 2019[4]
Refugee Rescue[4]  United Kingdom 7.4 m ex-RNLI Atlantic 75[40] Began early 2016; paused operations August 2020[4]
RESQSHIP[41]  Germany 18 m Resqship resumed operations in June 2021[4] with an 18m ketch, the .[41]


Ocean Viking SOS Méditerranée / Médecins Sans Frontières  France 69 m Active since July 2019[42] Seized, Sicily, July 2020; Nov. 2020 at shipyard in port of Augusta (Sicily)[4] Ocean Viking at anchor, 2011
Open Arms Proactiva Open Arms  Spain 37 m Resumed operations in November 2020,[43] but later detained on 15 April 2021 in Pozzallo (Sicily) after completing a mission;[44] permitted to return to Borriana (Burriana, Spain) on 29 June 2021 for required maintenance.[45] Proactiva Open Arms also operate Golfo Azzurro and Astral[15] Open Arms
Phoenix[46] Migrant Offshore Aid Station  Belize 40 m September 2017, MOAS mission in Mediterranean ended; vessel transferred to assisting displaced Rohingya in Myanmar
VOS Prudence Médecins Sans Frontières Belgique  Italy 75 m Stopped operations in Oct. 2017[3] VOS Prudence
 Germany 39 m Formerly the Alan Kurdi; sailed to start rescue missions 7 August 2021[9][47] On first mission rescued initially 85 people,[48] before docking at Syracuse with 166 refugees aboard.[49] October 15, disembarked 58 rescued persons at Pozzallo at end of 2nd mission.[50]
Mission Lifeline  Germany 25 m[51] Converted early 2021. Expected to begin operations in 2021.[52] Schleswig-Holstein,_Wewelsfleht,_Rise_Above_NIK_1002_
Sea-Eye Sea-Eye  Netherlands 26 m Stopped operations after contestation of NL flag and seizure in Malta in July 2018[3] Sea-Eye
Sea-Eye 4 Sea-Eye  Germany 53 m Former offshore supply vessel, Purchased 2020, began operations 2021 (Successor to Sea-Eye, Seefuchs, and Alan Kurdi);[53] detained in Palermo on 5 June 2021.[54][55]
Sea-Watch
(later Mare Liberum) 		Sea-Watch; subsequently operated by Mare Liberum (NGO),[56]  Germany 21 m Renamed upon transfer to Mare Liberum, 2018. Sea-Watch
Sea-Watch 2
(later Lifeline)[57] 		Sea-Watch; subsequently operated by Mission Lifeline  Germany 32 m Sold to Mission Lifeline and renamed Lifeline, autumn 2016 Lifeline as Sea-Watch 2
Sea-Watch 3[58]
(ex-Dignity 1)[19] 		Sea-Watch  Netherlands 50 m Seized, Sicily, July 2020, Sept. 2020 in port at Burriana (Spain)[4] 4 grodotzki seawatch3 20181219 3388.jpg
Sea-Watch 4[59] Sea-Watch  Germany 60.7 m Active since August 2020; Seized (Palermo) Oct 2020[4] Poseidon Bug.JPG
Mare Liberum (NGO)  Germany 14.5 m Beneteau sailing yacht, acquired 2020[60]
Seefuchs[61]
(later Life) 		Sea-Eye  Netherlands 26 m Stopped SAR operations in 2018. Then was donated to Proem-Aid and renamed ‘Life’.[3][62] Seefuchs


Further related facilities[]

Since 2017, Sea-Watch have operated a SAR-coordinating reconnaissance aircraft, , a single-engined Cirrus SR22, and since June 2020, also the , a twin-engined high-performance Beechcraft Baron 58.[63] These are flown in cooperation with the Swiss NGO Humanitarian Pilots Initiative.[4]

In December 2020, [64] began operation of their Dyn'Aéro MCR4S reconnaissance aircraft named .[20] Their original Colibri, of the same make, flew its first mission in May 2018.[65] As of June 2019, they had logged 52 missions, sighting 54 boats and by their estimates saving more than 4,300 people.[65]

Further related organisations[]

For a period, the Search and Rescue Observatory for the Mediterranean (SAROBMED), based at Queen Mary University of London, monitored SAR operations in the region.[66] SAROBMED in turn listed a number of other organisations, including (in addition to those mentioned above):

In conjunction with Alarm Phone, Watch the Mediterranean Sea monitors deaths and violations of migrants' rights at the maritime borders of the EU via an online mapping platform.[71]

The German-based international movement Seebrücke has campaigned since 2018 for the humanitarian rights for people to migrate.[72]

Organisations with future plans[]

As of May 2021, the Italian group '' had plans to start operating a further rescue ship.[73] In July 2021 they announced their acquisition of the Alan Kurdi, which is renamed and under preparation for new rescue operations.[9] RESQ PEOPLE sailed from Borriana on 7 August 2021 to start rescue missions in the central Mediterranean.[74]

See also[]

National and international operations[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Seenotrettung im Mittelmeer – Helfer sind Opfer einer fatalen Dynamik" [Rescue at sea in the Mediterranean - helpers are victims of a fatal dynamic]. Die Zeit (in German). 2017-07-19. Retrieved 2018-06-22.
  2. ^ Cusumano, Eugenio; Villa, Matteo (2020-09-09). "From "Angels" to "Vice Smugglers": the Criminalization of Sea Rescue NGOs in Italy". European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research. 27: 23–40. doi:10.1007/s10610-020-09464-1. ISSN 1572-9869.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "2019 update - NGO ships involved in search and rescue in the Mediterranean and criminal investigations". European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights. 2019-06-19. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t December 2020 update - NGO ships involved in search and rescue in the Mediterranean and legal proceedings against them 18 December 2020, European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, fra.europa.eu, accessed 18 May 2021
  5. ^ Maydayterraneo Project “Aita Mari Rescue Ship” www.smh.eus, accessed 18 May 2021
  6. ^ AITA MARI, SAR-Vessel www.vesseltracker.com, accessed 18 May 2021
  7. ^ ProemAID MEDITERRÁNEO www.proemaid.org, accessed 24 May 2021
  8. ^ "ResQ – People Saving People". Retrieved 2021-07-31.
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  25. ^ CHILDREN RESCUED AT SEA 19 January 2017 resourcecentre.savethechildren.net, Accessed 18 May 2021
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