This afternoon, the Sea-Watch rescue vessel Aurora rescued 32 people from the Miskar gas platform in the central Mediterranean, where they had been stranded since Saturday, 1 March 2025. Despite the imminent emergency, the informed European authorities had not initiated rescue operations, even though the people were stranded in international waters on the border of the Tunisian and Maltese search and rescue (SAR) zones.
The Sea-Watch monitoring aircraft Seabird discovered an empty rubber boat next to the platform on Saturday afternoon, 1 March 2025. The organization Alarmphone later reported that people had sought shelter on the gas platform and that one person had died during the crossing. Since Saturday, there has been no state-led assistance for the people- according to the platform operators, only the Tunisian navy had announced that it would take in the shipwrecked people. However, returning them to Tunisia would have violated international human rights and maritime law, as people brought there face severe danger of torture, violence, and death.
‘32 people in distress were left alone for days – a calculated failure by European states. Once again, civil organizations had to step in where states ignored their responsibility to rescue,’ says Oliver Kulikowski, spokesperson for Sea-Watch.
Given the human rights abuses and the inaction of European states, Sea-Watch took responsibility and launched a rescue operation on the morning of 4 March 2025. After reaching the gas platform, 32 people were taken on board the Aurora, where they are now receiving initial treatment. Authorities haven’t yet assigned the ship a port of safety.
The incident again shows that civilian sea rescue remains vital while state actors fail to fulfill their duty.
