On Sunday, 7 June 2026, at least eleven people died in a shipwreck in the Central Mediterranean, around 45 nautical miles off Malta, within the Maltese search and rescue area. Around 60 people were reportedly in distress. When the Sea-Watch monitoring aircraft Seabird 1 arrived on scene, no remnants of the boat were visible. Survivors…
DetailsBerlin/Lampedusa, June 4, 2026 — Sea-Watch is putting a new rescue vessel into service: With the Aurora 2, the organization is responding to the repeated detentions of civilian rescue ships by the Italian authorities. Now, Sea-Watch will remain operational even when one of its ships is detained. While one ship is blocked in port, the other will…
DetailsSince the implementation of the Piantedosi Decree-Law on 2 January 2023, Italian authorities have issued detention orders against 41 humanitarian rescue ships, totaling 1,075 days – almost three years. Italy’s blockade of rescue ships in ports has prevented them from assisting people in distress in the Central Mediterranean, further exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in the…
DetailsSaturday, 16 May – Italy has opened a criminal investigation against the captain of the Sea-Watch 5 with the accusation of “aiding and abetting unauthorized immigration”. The Sea-Watch 5 had entered the port of Brindisi on Friday morning at around 11 a.m. with 166 rescued people on board. The investigation represents an absurd escalation: Days…
Details13 May – In response to the attack on the Sea-Watch 5 on Monday, 11 May 2026, the European Commission stated at its press conference on Wednesday, 12 May 2026, that EU cooperation with Libyan actors “prevented further violence.” Sea-Watch condemns this portrayal as a grotesque distortion of reality. Without the political, financial, and operational…
DetailsOn 11 May 2026, an armed patrol boat operated by the so-called Libyan coastguard opened fire on the civilian rescue vessel Sea-Watch 5 in international waters and threatened to board the ship and abduct those on board to Libya. The attack took place approximately 55 nautical miles north of Tripoli, in international waters. Shortly beforehand,…
DetailsA patrol boat operated by the so-called Libyan coast guard fired live ammunition at the rescue ship Sea-Watch 5 and is attempting to seize the vessel, its 30 crew members, and 90 rescued people on board to Libya. The attack is ongoing and began shortly after the Sea-Watch 5 crew had rescued 90 people in…
DetailsBerlin, 7 May 2026. For the first time since the beginning of civilian search and rescue operations in the central Mediterranean in 2015, the German Government has extended Security Level 2 for vessels flying the German flag from Libyan territorial waters to also include the Libyan search and rescue zone off the Libyan coast –…
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