July 31, 2025 – Two days after rescuing more than 90 people from a capsized boat in the Mediterranean Sea, the captain of the merchant ship PORT FUKUOKA is still alone at sea with the survivors. Among them are three pregnant women and the bodies of two deceased children. One woman reports that her water broke. One person is still missing. A deportation to Libya in violation of international law is still imminent.
Background The monitoring aircraft Seabird 2 of the search and rescue organization Sea-Watch first spotted a boat in distress on Monday, 28 July, and alerted all responsible European authorities. Only around 6 hours later, the first Frontex airplane joined the scene, but left again. A day later, the merchant vessel PORT FUKUOKA rescued the people. During the rescue intervention, the boat capsized. Another Frontex airplane that was on scene launched a life raft to support the rescue of the people floating in the water. The German human rights commissioner, Lars Castellucci, accompanied the civil monitoring flight on 29 July that witnessed the capsizing of the boat in distress one day after the first alert.
It would have taken European rescue vessels three hours to reach the people in distress. At the same time, two civil rescue vessels remain blocked in the harbor of Lampedusa.
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31 July This morning, a Libyan militia ship of the so-called Libyan coastguard joined the merchant vessel PORT FUKUOKA at sea. The captain of the PORT FUKUOKA did not hand over the rescued individuals. Even when the 9-month pregnant woman reported her water broke, no European state offered rescue. The situation is being monitored from the air by Sea-Watch’s civil aircraft Seabird 2, which has maintained aerial oversight to document and report ongoing violations of international maritime and human rights law.
This case exposes the EU’s deliberate policy of non-assistance at sea and the systematic denial of rights to people on the move.
“It is shameful that it takes the courage of one merchant captain to uphold basic human rights, while European governments continue to support racist policies that result in death, trauma, and suffering at sea,” says Paul Wagner, spokesperson for Sea-Watch.
Sea-Watch demands:
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Release of the Sea-Watch rescue ship Aurora, detained in Lampedusa, for the immediate rescue of the shipwrecked
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Immediate disembarkation for the 98 people and recovery of the two dead children in a European port of safety
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An end to illegal push- and pullbacks
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A European-led civil sea rescue mission
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Safe and legal pathways for people coming to Europe