SEA-EYE 4 brings 174 rescued people safely ashore in Genoa

The civilian rescue ship of the Regensburg-based organisation Sea-Eye e.V. has returned directly to the area of operation.

Around noon on Thursday (July 11th, 2024), 174 survivors on board the SEA-EYE 4 – including a mother and her baby – reached the port of Genoa. The people had been rescued in the Mediterranean on Sunday and Monday. During those two days, the vessel saved 231 people in distress in a total of 5 operations. The people rescued on the last operation were handed over to the Italian coastguard on Monday. For the remaining 174 survivors, the Italian authorities have designated Genoa – some 600 nautical miles from the operation area – as a port of safety.

“The three days it took us to reach Genoa were three more strenuous days on the Mediterranean for the weakened survivors. We are glad that we were finally able to bring them to safety. The fact that we carried out so many rescues in such a short time has shown one thing above all: We are desperately needed on site. That’s why it was important for us to lose as little time as we could and to return to the area of operation as quickly as possible,” says Ayesha Sattar, on-board doctor on the SEA-EYE 4 for German Doctors e.V.

At 9:30 p.m., just a few hours after SEA-EYE 4 arrived in Genoa, the vessel left the port to return to the area of operation. It is expected to arrive there early next week.