Italy massively interferes with the rights of the flag state Germany, European law and human rights guarantees.

With new rules of conduct at the end of the year, the Italian government wants to further complicate the work for civilian sea rescue organizations and, according to legal experts from Sea-Eye’s Legal Team, massively interferes with the rights of the flag state Germany, European law and international and regional human rights guarantees.

“According to the version of the decree available to us and a preliminary assessment of its legal content, it is likely to be unlawful insofar as it seeks to regulate the conduct of German-flagged vessels in international waters and to sanction them upon entry into the Italian territorial sea. The coastal state has no authority to regulate and enforce the rescue of foreign ships beyond its territorial sea (12 nautical miles). Thus, Italy cannot dictate how rescue operations in international waters are to be conducted, as this is a matter for the flag state (in the case of Sea-Eye Germany). Even according to the International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue, Italy as a coastal state (and only in its own Search and Rescue Zone) can only coordinate and issue instructions, the enforcement of which, according to international and German law, is then in turn the responsibility of Germany as the flag state. Moreover, neither the International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue nor the Guidelines of the International Maritime Organization provide a basis for the rules of conduct demanded by Italy”, says Prof. Dr. Valentin Schatz, member of the Sea-Eye Legal Team.

Italy is therefore interfering with Germany’s freedom of navigation under Article 87 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea without any basis in international law by regulating the conduct of German ships in international waters and threatening them with fines and the seizure of ships. It should be noted here that Italy has already been convicted in 2019 in a case before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in Hamburg (The M/V “Norstar” Case [Panama v. Italy], Judgment of 10 April 2019, paragraph 222) for a similar unjustified interference with Article 87 of the Law of the Sea Convention.

“It follows from the EU Directive on common procedures for granting and withdrawing international protection that EU member states must provide information on asylum applications. This also applies at the EU border. But this duty cannot be shifted to civilian sea rescue organizations or to the crews of rescue ships. Rather, it is the duty of the EU coastal state or the EU border state concerned. Similarly, the duty to conduct asylum procedures is a coastal state obligation,” says Prof. Dr. Anuscheh Farahat, member of the Sea-Eye Legal Team.

“Sea-Eye will not follow any illegal code of conduct or any other official directive that violates international law or the laws of our flag state. In our case, these are the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany. We therefore reject this so-called code of conduct and fear that this will lead to conflicts with the Italian authorities. We therefore expect the Federal Government to protect the sea rescue organizations under German flag from the illegal behavior of the Italian authorities and to support us decisively in case of conflict. Any delay in our operations endangers human lives,” says Dr. Annika Fischer, member of the board of Sea-Eye e.V.

SEA-EYE 4 rescues another 45 people from distress at sea and is now on its way to Livorno with 108 people on board.

In the night from Sunday to Monday, the crew of the SEA-EYE 4 was able to rescue 45 more people from distress at sea in the Maltese search and rescue zone, after they had been fighting for survival on the high seas for six days. Previously, both Italy and Malta had actively tried to prevent the rescue of these people. For example, Malta instructed two merchant ships to ignore the case and even threatened consequences.

As there were no other rescue vessels in the immediate vicinity, the SEA-EYE 4 remained in operation and continued to search for the people missing. During the 35-hour journey, the SEA-EYE 4 was in contact with two merchant ships that were also in the Maltese search and rescue zone and assured help. However, the Maltese Rescue Coordination Centre instructed both vessels to continue on their regular course. While the NORVIKEN then called off the search, the MTM SOUTHPORT remained on the scene and continued to participate in the search.

“This case relentlessly shows that the failure of Maltese authorities to provide assistance is systematic. The fact that Malta not only does not carry out its own rescues in its own search and rescue zone, but even actively tries to prevent rescues by merchant ships, is a scandal!” says Gorden Isler, Chairman of Sea-Eye e.V.

“The crew is exhausted but happy to have rescued the people. The first thing we have to do now is wash the clothes of those rescued, because all of them were completely soaked in gasoline. As a result, many have suffered burns that need to be treated at the hospital. The people will need a long time to recover, many stare stunned into the distance and stagger across the deck,” is how operations manager Jan Ribbeck describes the situation on board the morning after the rescue.

First mission for Sea-Eye since Giorgia Meloni’s extreme right-wing government took office.

The SEA-EYE 4 departed from Burriana on Wednesday (07.12.2022) for the sixth and final rescue mission in 2022. The ongoing mission is largely made possible by the civilian sea rescue alliance United4Rescue. “Without the help of the alliance, which is supported by more than 850 institutions, the current mission could not be financed,” says Gorden Isler, Chairman of Sea-Eye e.V.

The Regensburg sea rescuers have been suffering from a massive drop in donations for months. A funding of 300,000 € by United4Rescue and further funding of 25,000 € by the UNO-Flüchtlingshilfe and 15,000 € by Civilfleet Support e.V. now enable the SEA-EYE 4 to return to the central Mediterranean. Since the alliance ship set off on its first rescue mission in May 2021, the crews have saved more than 2,300 people from drowning.

“We are delighted that, thanks to our support, the SEA-EYE 4 was able to set off on its next mission and will be saving lives again in the coming days,” said Ansgar Gilster, board member of United4Rescue. “No rescue ship should be left in port because there is no money – that’s what we stand for with our broad alliance.”

“In this situation, it is all the more important that we as a civic society stand up for the human right to bodily integrity. We will continue to stand together against the dying in the Mediterranean, and we demand a clear shift of course in refugee and migration policy from politicians,” says Dr Harald Kischlat, Chairman of German Doctors e.V.

The Bonn-based humanitarian aid organization German Doctors e.V. is once again providing the mission doctor on board. The organizations Sea-Eye and German Doctors want to continue working together in 2023 to save as many people as possible from drowning. How often the SEA-EYE 4 will be able to embark in 2023 is uncertain. Sea-Eye received significantly fewer donations this year than in the same period last year. 

“We have to emphasize now that we will do fewer missions in the coming year if the situation does not improve quickly. Already the first planned mission in the coming year is seriously endangered,” says Isler.

82 people are missing

From Sunday to Monday (September 4th-5th), the crew of the rescue ship SEA-EYE 4 searched for a distress case in the Maltese Search and Rescue Zone, which had been reported by AlarmPhone to the SEA-EYE 4 and the Maltese Rescue Control Center. AlarmPhone sent updated coordinates several times until it lost communication with the 82 people.

The Maltese Rescue Coordination Center made no discernible attempts to locate the boat. The Maltese Rescue Coordination Center claimed that they had “no information” during a phone call with an AlarmPhone employee. Finally, the AlarmPhone employee was accused of blocking the phone line for other maritime emergencies.

Due to the size of the search area, it was not possible for the SEA-EYE 4 to find the boat without updated coordinates. There is no information on the whereabouts of the 82 people. Although the maritime emergency occurred in the Maltese Search and Rescue Zone, Malta did not involve the SEA-EYE 4 in a coordinated search.

“After intensive days of searching by our crew, we know nothing about the fate of the people who called for help in the Search and Rescue Zone of an EU member state. Had Malta sent a surveillance aircraft and involved us in the search, we might have found the people. At least that is what the Maltese Rescue Center would have done if they had been Europeans in distress at sea,” says Gorden Isler, chairman of Sea-Eye e. V.

Already on September 2nd, the crew of the SEA-EYE 4 rescued 76 people from a small, double-decker wooden boat in distress at sea. The distress case had been previously reported by NADIR of the organization Resqship. Among the rescued people are 17 unaccompanied minors and one child. In the following days, the medical team had to treat several patients in the onboard hospital.

On Tuesday, September 6th, the condition of one patient deteriorated massively. He suffered from severe pain in his abdomen and had a fever. The SEA-EYE 4 then requested a medical evacuation from Malta, whereupon the patient was brought ashore by helicopter for medical treatment.

Yesterday evening (September 6th), the SEA-EYE 4 took over 54 previously rescued people from the RISE ABOVE because it is better equipped to care for them.

“The additional 54 refugees – including 30 minors – were very weakened and dehydrated when they were taken on board the RISE ABOVE. For three days they had held out on their boat without food or drink. In the meantime, they have all been stabilized. Since they are young and none of them has a chronic illness, we are confident that the new guests will at least remain physically stable,” explains Dr. Angelika Leist, German Doctors mission physician and ship’s doctor on board the SEA-EYE 4.

German Doctors regularly provides volunteer doctors for the rescue missions of the SEA-EYE 4 and contributes financially to the operation of the onboard hospital, where a three-person team often has to treat dozens of rescued people during rescue missions.

There are now 129 people on board the SEA-EYE 4, including 48 minors, 47 of whom are unaccompanied. The crew has asked for a port of safety in Italy.

Sea-Eye criticizes unequal treatment of people seeking protection

After the 476 refugees had spent a week in cramped quarters on the SEA-EYE 4, disembarkation began today, 22.06.2022, in Messina. Yesterday, the Italian Coast Guard had assigned Messina as a port of safety to the SEA-EYE 4.

The crew of the SEA-EYE 4 had rescued 494 fleeing people from various boats in distress during the previous week. While waiting for a port, 18 people had to be evacuated from the ship for medical reasons. The people had fled the Libyan civil war in unseaworthy boats. However, many had previously fled their countries of origin. The people come from 23 different countries of origin. Among them Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Mali or Syria.

“There are also long-term armed conflicts or even wars in countries such as Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Libya, Mali or Syria. Currently, however, there are only safe passages to the EU for people fleeing Ukraine. People from all other countries of origin must continue to risk dying at European borders for the chance of safety and an asylum process. This is clearly structural racism. We need safe passages for all people seeking protection, no matter what the color of their skin or the tyrants they are fleeing,” says Gorden Isler, chairman of Sea-Eye e. V.