Sea-Watch rescues 227 people in the Mediterranean within 48 hours
13 October 2026. The crews of the Sea-Watch vessels Sea-Watch 5 and Aurora 2 rescued 227 people from five boats in distress in international waters in the central Mediterranean within 48 hours. The rescues took place between Sunday afternoon, 11 October, and Monday evening, 12 October. During the rescues, both crews encountered unidentified vessels approaching their rescue ships. In one incident, an actor identifying itself as the Libyan Navy threatened the Sea-Watch 5 crew with prosecution in Tripoli. Italian authorities have assigned Sea-Watch 5 the distant port of Civitavecchia, approximately three days’ sailing away.
Julia Winkler, Sea-Watch spokesperson:
“We are incredibly happy that 227 people survived the dangerous journey. The rescue of 227 people in 48 hours shows how urgently rescue ships are needed. Yet Italian authorities are sending our ship to a port about 900 kilometres away, turning distance into a weapon against civilian sea rescue. Deliberately reducing rescue capacity is a political choice with deadly consequences.”
The Sea-Watch 5 rescued 151 people in three operations. On Sunday, the crew rescued 28 people from a sinking boat following an alert from an aircraft operated by the organisation SOS MEDITERRANEE, and another 51 people following an alert from the distress hotline Alarm Phone. Before the second rescue, an unidentified vessel repeatedly circled the Sea-Watch 5.
On Monday morning, the Sea-Watch 5 was alerted to another boat in distress in a restricted area near an offshore oil platform. After a supply vessel associated with the platform granted permission to enter the area to assist the people in distress, an actor identifying itself over the radio as the Libyan Navy ordered Sea-Watch 5 to leave. The actor threatened to bring the crew to trial in Tripoli if it did not comply. The crew was eventually able to de-esclate the situation and rescue all 72 people.
Aurora 2 rescued another 76 people in two rescue operations on Monday. During the first operation, an unidentified grey fibreglass boat carrying four people approached Aurora 2 closely without making contact. Later that evening, the crew helped stabilise a sixth boat until the Italian Coast Guard arrived to take the people aboard.
While Italian authorities assigned Sea-Watch 5 the distant port of Civitavecchia, Aurora 2 was assigned the port of Lampedusa, which it reached at around 9:30 p.m. Due to its limited fuel reserves, Aurora 2 would not have been able to reach a more distant port.
According to the International Organization for Migration's Missing Migrants Project, at least 1,982 people have died or gone missing in the Mediterranean since the beginning of 2026.