The Mare Jonio, a 37.5 m Italian flagged vessel run by the Italian civil society project “Mediterranea” in cooperation with Sea-Watch, has set sails to the Central Mediterranean Sea. Accompanied by the Astral, of the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms, the Mare Jonio is bound to resume civil sea rescue at the deadliest border of…
A dead body, found yesterday by the civil surveillance aircraft Colibri, likely indicates a new shipwreck in the central mediterranean sea. The lack of suitable rescue assets and the blockade of the civil rescue fleet, turn the central Mediterranean into a deadly black box: Several shipwrecks occurred, since Malta is blocking rescue vessels from doing…
Yesterday, Sunday, the crew of the surveillance aircraft Colibri witnessed once again a dramatic case of failure to render assistance by the Italian authorities. A rubber boat with over 80 refugees was in distress at sea for over 9 hours and was finally towed back to war-torn Libya by the country’s so-called Coast Guard. At…
Dear Mr Prime Minister, with the present letter, Sea-Watch holds the Maltese government responsible for deliberately and arbitrarily detaining the ship Sea-Watch 3 for over two months, without legal justification and rather on a merely political basis. This is a conscious attempt to hinder the rescue of people in distress on the Central Mediterranean. We…
New armed clashes in Tripoli tighten the situation in Libya. Maltese prime minister Joseph Muscat claims “apprehension”, yet continues blocking rescue ships in Maltese Harbours and thereby obstructs the last escape route for the local population and refugees, caught in the crossfire. Sea-Watch files legal protest against Maltese grounding of the reconnaissance aircraft Moonbird. Already…
