Over 400 migrants were rescued through the course of last night by the NGOs Sea-Eye and Mission Lifeline after coming into distress in Malta’s search and rescue zone, the two NGOs said in a joint statement.
One of the vessels, the Sea-Eye 4, now has over 800 rescued migrants onboard, and is making its way to the closest port of safety – the Italian island of Lampedusa – after they said that Malta is refusing to communicate to it.
The NGO said in a statement that it was fellow NGO AlarmPhone which reported a maritime emergency Wednesday morning in the Maltese Search and Rescue Zone, where Malta is responsible for coordinating maritime emergencies.
“AlarmPhone constantly kept informing the Maltese Rescue Coordination Center of new coordinates and requested coordination of the rescue. However, RCC Malta did not respond to any of the calls for assistance,” the NGO said.
The Sea-Eye 4 and another vessel, the Rise Above which is operated by Mission Lifeline, were about six hours away from the scene of the incident, but nonetheless chose to go there “because no other help was to be expected for these people in acute danger to life.”
The NGO said that it was the Rise Above which arrived at the two-tier wooden boat first on Wednesday night, by which point the boat had already developed a leak and was taking on water.
They said that “several people were in the water without life jackets and had to be rescued directly from the sea.”
The Sea-Eye 4 arrived shortly afterwards, and succeeded in providing the distressed people onboard with life jackets and calmed down the migrants.
Evacuation of those onboard started with those who were in need of urgent medical assistance, and the NGO said that one person even had to be resuscitated while still on the lifeboat on the way to the main vessel.
Evacuation continued until around midnight, the NGO said.
“For the 24-member crew of the SEA-EYE 4, an unprecedented, highly stressful situation now arises. The rescue ship is dependent on the rapid assignment of a port of safety. Sea-Eye has already asked the rescue coordination centre in Rome for the assignment of a safe port and the German Foreign Office for urgent assistance, as Malta still refuses any communication,” the NGO said.
“A state of emergency is now in effect on the SEA-EYE 4. Any delay by the authorities endangers the health and lives of the rescued people and our crew. It is shameful how Malta repeatedly shirks its responsibility and ignores distress calls,” says Gorden Isler, Chairman of Sea-Eye e. V.
“The behaviour of the European authorities has almost criminal features. The responsibilities are unambiguous and clearly regulated. Why the states do not adhere to it and knowingly abandon people in distress at sea can only be related to a lack of pressure of prosecution via the International Criminal Court. It would be easy to hold those responsible personally accountable!” says Axel Steier, board member and spokesman of Mission Lifeline e. V.
“It is shocking how many rescues Sea-Eye and other organizations had to make in the last days. The situation on the ground is dramatic, as the rescue crews are reaching the edge of their capacities, which are no longer sufficient. We need help so that all people who are in distress at sea right now can be rescued. After all, this is our common moral responsibility,” said Dr. Christine Winkelmann, chairman of German Doctors, who are involved in the rescue operation through the ship's doctor Daniela Klein.