Many distress cases off Lampedusa: SEA-EYE 5 rescues 110 people

Italian Coast Guard assigns the SEA-EYE 5 to a port outside its range

The crew of the new alliance ship SEA-EYE 5 rescued 110 people off Lampedusa in three operations between Tuesday and Wednesday (5.11.-6.11.). There have been several maritime emergencies off the Mediterranean island since Tuesday morning.

On Tuesday morning, the organization Alarmphone informed the relevant authorities and the sea rescue ships about 54 people in distress at sea in the Maltese rescue zone, where Malta is responsible for coordinating sea rescue operations. At 10:56 a.m., the crew of the SEA-EYE 5 discovered the boat and contacted the Maltese authorities. For more than five hours, head of mission Jan Ribbeck struggled with the Maltese and Italian authorities to coordinate the distress case. As the situation deteriorated, the boat was unnavigable and water was entering, the SEA-EYE 5 crew finally evacuated the boat.

As there were further reports of distress cases, the ship continued the search for more boats. The CompassCollective sailboat TROTAMAR III found a boat with 93 people and stabilized the situation. The Italian Coast Guard asked the SEA-EYE 5 to assist the TROTAMAR III. On the way, the crew of the SEA-EYE 5 found another unseaworthy boat and rescued 25 people. At around 04:30 on Wednesday morning, the SEA-EYE 5 reached the TROTAMAR III, which had already evacuated 62 people and was unable to take on any more. The SEA-EYE 5 then took 31 more survivors on board.

The Italian Coast Guard instructed the SEA-EYE 5 to hand over the 31 survivors from the last rescue to an Italian Coast Guard vessel off Lampedusa during the Wednesday morning and to take the remaining people to Ortona. As the all-weather lifeboat SEA-EYE 5 is unable to reach Ortona for technical reasons, the head of mission asked for a closer port to be assigned.

“We urge the Italian authorities to take into account the technical limitations of our ship and to assign us to a nearby port. There must not now be an argumentative back and forth on the backs of the survivors. The SEA-EYE 5 is a rescue ship that provides first aid and saves lives. It was built for no other purpose. But it is not suitable for multi-day sea voyages,” said Gorden Isler, Chairman of Sea-Eye e.V.

The SEA-EYE 5 and the TROTAMAR III are now heading for Lampedusa.

“The survivors need medical examinations and treatment. Staying on our ship for more than 24 hours is unacceptable. As a crew, we are doing everything humanly possible. But after around 36 hours of continuous operation, even our strength is almost exhausted. We urgently need permission to dock in Lampedusa,” says Jan Ribbeck, head of mission on board the SEA-EYE 5.