Sea-Eye And Mission Lifeline Collaborate To Rescue 325 People

Sea rescue

German rescue ships SEA-EYE 4 and RISE ABOVE involved in 5 rescue operations

The rescue ships SEA-EYE 4 from Sea-Eye e.V. and RISE ABOVE from Mission Lifeline e.V. received an emergency distress call from the AlarmPhone on Tuesday, November 2nd, 2021. The responsible authorities were informed at the same time. So far there has been no reaction from the authorities.

The smaller but faster RISE ABOVE was on scene first, provided the people with life jackets and stayed on site until the larger SEA-EYE 4 vessel arrived. The crew evacuated the people from the unseaworthy rubber boat, and brought them on board the SEA-EYE 4. During the first rescue, the rescue ships were informed of several further emergencies at sea. By Tuesday morning, the crews of both ships had rescued 325 persons from a total of 5 boats in distress. The cooperation between the two vessels with different characteristics turned out to be very effective. While the RISE ABOVE is twice as fast and can arrive on scene very quickly, the SEA-EYE 4 is able to take many people aboard and provide them with adequate medical care in the ship’s sick bay.

Sea rescue

This is made possible by the medical expertise of the Bonn-based organization German Doctors e.V., which is once again represented on the SEA-EYE 4 by on-board doctor Daniela Klein.

There are now 325 people on board the SEA-EYE 4. Among them are 152 children, 31 women and 142 men. Two of the women are pregnant. Aboard SEA-EYE 4, the rescued will now be offered an initial medical check-up, they will be tested for Covid-19 and provided with food and water.

“There are 5 people with serious injuries. Up to 10 people had to be treated longer in the hospital today. We will continue to work into the night and still have to provide medical care or monitor around 50 people. There are two pregnant women and a lot of children. Many of the rescued are very seasick, which is made worse by the fact that many people have inhaled fuel, causing terrible nausea and vomiting. There are many skin burns caused by the fuel mixed with seawater. Not to be forgotten are older wounds, which also have to be treated, and psychologically traumatized patients,” says Daniela Klein, doctor from German Doctors and currently aboard.

Sea rescue

“We have around 150 minors and several families with small children among those rescued. 11 children are approximately only three years old. If our ships had not been there in time, the lives of these people would have remained at the mercy of the sea. We are grateful that these families are now in the caring hands of our rescue crew,” says Gorden Isler, Chairman of Sea-Eye e.V.

“We are happy that we were able to save so many people in our first mission with our new ship together with the crew of the SEA-EYE 4. Combining the specific strengths and advantages of each of the two ships was incredibly valuable for these rescue operations,” says Axel Steier, Chairman of Mission Lifeline e.V.