Each day, InfoMigrants is profiling one member of the crew of the MS Aquarius as they work to save migrants in the Mediterranean Sea. Today the focus is on Anthony, the pilot of RIB Number 2, one of the inflatable boats Aquarius uses to pick up migrants in the waters and bring them back to the ship.
Behind a gruff exterior, Anthony hides an undeniable friendliness. Something about his straight-talking modesty makes us guess - and he soon confirms it - that Anthony is from Corsica. (Our second guess was that he was from Brittany.)
"I'm not French, I'm not Breton, I'm Corsican!" he told InfoMigrants with a smile. 35 years old and covered with tattoos, Anthony grew up with the ocean, near the city of Corte on what French people like to call "The Beautiful Island." Over the years, the sea has become his faithful friend and traveling companion. He spends 300 days out of the year on the water.
"I know the sea," he says. "I married it."
A professionally-trained sailor, Anthony was navigating by the age of 16. He spent 15 years with the French navy, then joined the merchant marines. He first heard about SOS Méditerranée while listening to the radio in October 2016. "They were asking for help, for money as well as expertise," Anthony explains. "They explained that they were doing sea rescues and I liked the idea. I’m a sailor by training and by trade. When you hear that people are dying at sea and that you can help them, you go."
He joined the NGO in December 2016. Anthony knew the sea "almost" like his pocket, but knew nothing about humanitarian work. In the end, it wasn’t a problem. His job on the Aquarius was to keep being a sailor. That’s how he ended up pilot of the RIB Number 2.
When the Aquarius finds a ship in distress, Anthony drives the inflatable boat up to migrants who are in the water and makes first contact. There are three RIBs on the Aquarius, but only two are used on a regular basis. "My job is to approach their boat and analyze the situation. Is the boat broken in some way? Is it taking on water? I also have to estimate the number of people that need saving," he tells InfoMigrants.
Most of the time, the approach goes well.
"The people are so exhausted that they just tell us not to take them back to Libya," Anthony says. "They’re relieved when they figure out who we are."
After five months on board, Anthony has lost track of how many rescues he's participated in: twenty, maybe thirty. "I’m not sure," he says, "But I remember the first mission and the first deaths. It was Friday the 13th. It was raining, we were doing a rescue, and we saw the bodies. The doctor said they had been dead for a while."
Anthony still isn’t really used to rescue operations: "You never completely get used to it, but you make do. Gradually you get tougher. We know what has to be done and we do it."
Like many people on board, Anthony has no partner or children waiting for him on shore. Dry land isn’t really his thing, in any case.
"I tried," he says. "It lasted six months. The ship is my home and the sea is my backyard." And when someone is drowning in his backyard, Anthony doesn’t hesitate. "Whether you’re black or white, whether you come from here or there, I don’t care. When you have a person drowning in front of you, you help them, that’s it."
Translation from French by Avner Davis
"I'm not French, I'm not Breton, I'm Corsican!" he told InfoMigrants with a smile. 35 years old and covered with tattoos, Anthony grew up with the ocean, near the city of Corte on what French people like to call "The Beautiful Island." Over the years, the sea has become his faithful friend and traveling companion. He spends 300 days out of the year on the water.
"I know the sea," he says. "I married it."
A professionally-trained sailor, Anthony was navigating by the age of 16. He spent 15 years with the French navy, then joined the merchant marines. He first heard about SOS Méditerranée while listening to the radio in October 2016. "They were asking for help, for money as well as expertise," Anthony explains. "They explained that they were doing sea rescues and I liked the idea. I’m a sailor by training and by trade. When you hear that people are dying at sea and that you can help them, you go."
He joined the NGO in December 2016. Anthony knew the sea "almost" like his pocket, but knew nothing about humanitarian work. In the end, it wasn’t a problem. His job on the Aquarius was to keep being a sailor. That’s how he ended up pilot of the RIB Number 2.
When the Aquarius finds a ship in distress, Anthony drives the inflatable boat up to migrants who are in the water and makes first contact. There are three RIBs on the Aquarius, but only two are used on a regular basis. "My job is to approach their boat and analyze the situation. Is the boat broken in some way? Is it taking on water? I also have to estimate the number of people that need saving," he tells InfoMigrants.
Most of the time, the approach goes well.
"The people are so exhausted that they just tell us not to take them back to Libya," Anthony says. "They’re relieved when they figure out who we are."
After five months on board, Anthony has lost track of how many rescues he's participated in: twenty, maybe thirty. "I’m not sure," he says, "But I remember the first mission and the first deaths. It was Friday the 13th. It was raining, we were doing a rescue, and we saw the bodies. The doctor said they had been dead for a while."
Anthony still isn’t really used to rescue operations: "You never completely get used to it, but you make do. Gradually you get tougher. We know what has to be done and we do it."
Like many people on board, Anthony has no partner or children waiting for him on shore. Dry land isn’t really his thing, in any case.
"I tried," he says. "It lasted six months. The ship is my home and the sea is my backyard." And when someone is drowning in his backyard, Anthony doesn’t hesitate. "Whether you’re black or white, whether you come from here or there, I don’t care. When you have a person drowning in front of you, you help them, that’s it."
Translation from French by Avner Davis