On Monday, the sea-rescue organization Sea-Watch issued a press statement, saying that their ship and crew had been "attacked" and "shot at" in international waters in the Mediterranean. Two ships, appearing to be from the Libyan coast guard, were apparently shadowing their vessel and also threatened to board the ship and abduct those on board. They threatened violence if the ship did not accompany them to Tripoli.
"The attack began at around 11 am on Monday [May 11] morning," states Sea-Watch in a press release on the incident sent to journalists later on Monday. "First a single shot was fired, followed by a burst of approximately ten to fifteen further shots -- without any warning."
In a series of photos and video footage sent with the press release, you can see members of the crew on the bridge of the ship, some of them crouching down below the level of the windows while they issue a Mayday call for help.
At just after 9 am in the morning, according to a datestamp on Sea-Watch’s CCTV footage from the vessel’s aft, a speedy small boat appears from the horizon and pulls up alongside them. It is difficult to see the boat clearly in the footage provided, but according to Sea-Watch, it belongs to the Libyan coast guard.
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'Stop or we will use violence'
Through the radio on Sea-Watch 5's bridge, an Arabic-speaking male voice tells the Sea-Watch crew to "stop, you need to stop or we will use violence to stop you." In the clips provided by Sea-Watch he does not announce who he is or who he is working for. However, later he says he has "orders from the ministry," and orders the Sea-Watch 5 to accompany them to Tripoli, which would suggest he is working for the western Libyan administration, recognized by the UN.
An Arabic-speaking member of the Sea-Watch crew answers them: "We are a rescue ship and we are in international waters. We are not part of a Libyan militia. We have spoken to all the relevant Libyan authorities, and they know we are here. We need to help carry out a rescue and we have been in contact with Frontex."
The Arabic-speaking man on the Libyan ship’s tone appears to become increasingly insistent and threatening. "You have to stop, otherwise we will be violent,” he says. “I am getting messages from the ministry. Stop or I will shoot."
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International waters
The Sea-Watch crew reiterate that they can slow down, but they will not stop, and that they are in international waters.
The shots fired, states the organization Sea-Watch, came from a boat that appeared to be operated by the Libyan coast guard. Sea-Watch added that following the shots, the crew on board the Libyan boat then "threatened to board the ship and abduct those on board to Libya."
On board that morning, states Sea-Watch, were 30 crew members and 90 migrants who they had rescued shortly before the incident. Several of the migrants were reportedly "in an acute medical emergency."
On Monday, after being fired upon, the crew on board the Sea-Watch 5 said they sent out a Mayday (emergency signal asking for help) signal and informed the relevant Italian and German authorities of what had taken place. In their press statement on Monday morning, they said that "two vessels of the so-called Libyan coast guard are currently in the vicinity of the ship."
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'We are scared for the lives of our crew and the rescued people on board'
Julia Winkler, a spokesperson for the organization, said: "We are scared for the lives of our crew and the rescued people we have on board. We call on all European states to immediately intervene and stop this aggression, carried out by forces paid and legitimized by them."
In one of the Sea-Watch videos, one of the Sea-Watch crew tells her colleagues to "lock all the doors." They then clearly state that the Libyan authorities have threatened to board the boat.
Another crew member, a man, calmly issues a Mayday signal, giving his position and saying, "I have been shot at by the Libyan coast guard, and they are now threatening to board my vessel." The man goes on to give his geographical position.
Just after, a Libyan male voice comes over the intercom and issues instructions. The Arabic-speaking female crew member on board, listens and then tells her crew member in English "He’s asking us to stop now, and wait for further instructions from them, or they will start shooting fire." Later, after more exchanges in Arabic, the Sea-Watch Arabic speaker tells her colleagues in English, "He got military instructions asking us to head to [Libya]."
One of the Sea-Watch crew members then relays this information on the phone to someone, saying that "we have now informed all Libyan authorities about the rescue and that we are able to slow down the ship, but that we can’t stop it. And that we are also coordinating with all authorities about our situation."
The Libyan boat can be clearly seen through the Sea-Watch vessel windows, not too far from their ship.
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'Violent monster'
In a statement on Tuesday (May 12), Giulia Messmer, another spokesperson for Sea-Watch, accused the European Union, which has offered funding and training to the Libyan coast guard to encourage tighter migration controls, of "helping to create a violent monster in the form of the so-called Libyan coast guard that it is now either unwilling or unable to control."
Messmer added that since 2016, their organization has "documented more than 75 cases of extreme violence committed by Libyan militias in the Mediterranean." She added that they had not received protection from Italy in the light of these incidents and that there appeared to have been no consequences following "this escalation of violence."
Last week, the German authorities raised the security level in the so-called Libyan Search and Rescue (SAR) region to level two, and acknowledged that some of the reported attacks are "with high probability" carried out by boats working for the Libyan coast guard.
In an update to the initial statement sent on Monday, Sea-Watch said on Tuesday (May 12) that "despite this violent incident, Italian authorities have now assigned Sea-Watch 5 the port of Brindisi -- more than 1,000 kilometers away and nearly four days sailing from the rescue location."
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EU response
InfoMigrants contacted the EU Commission’s Home Affairs press office for a statement about the incident and asked whether or not the EU would be reacting in any way to the news, given that they fund the Libyan coast guard and offer training, equipment and support.
The EU replied that they would need more time to give specific answers to InfoMigrants’ questions, but that similar questions were addressed in today’s midday briefing by the Commission. During that briefing, Guillaume Mercier from the Commission’s Home Affairs press department answered journalists’ questions.
Mercier says that every time such an incident happens, the EU delegation "reaches out directly to the Libyan authorities to request information and they brought up these [kinds of] incidents to their attention." Mercier adds that this is done by the EU delegation, but also during technical missions, when an EU team might be visiting Libya, or a Libyan team visiting Brussels.
The EU states that they always seek to underline that the Libyan authorities should be in "full compliance with their national and international obligations." He does admit though that the situation in Libya is "indeed complex… and that we know migration management has some challenges." Mercier underlines that the EU’s engagement is to "support a comprehensive rights-based migration management, including the protection of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in full respect of international standards and rules."
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EU: 'Incidents like these show our work needs to be reinforced'
Mercier tells journalists that the EU is trying to encourage long-term changes in operating procedures so that the EU can support the Libyan authorities and reinforce national monitoring and accountability procedures." He admits that incidents like these "show that this work needs to be reinforced."
Another EU officer, Paola Pinho, tells the journalists that while they acknowledge these "unfortunate incidents" occur, they don’t know "how many others have been prevented precisely because we have been engaging consistently with the Libyan authorities over this issue."
Another journalist asks whether the EU feels itself "complicit" because of its funding. Mercier once again answers, saying "our engagement is about improving the situation on the ground and ensuring we have the necessary instruments and procedures in place to protect migrants.” Mercier says that states, in this case Libya, "are responsible for their actions and must follow up," adding that the Libyan authorities have investigated past allegations of violence and attacks on rescue ships.
The EU spokespeople reiterate that they try and make sure that all their partners, including Libya, respect international standards when it comes to search and rescue operations. He says they work alongside the IOM in Libya and are also in contact with the Libyan Defense and Interior ministries and that they have monitoring instruments in place to make sure that everyone respects international law.
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Operation Irini
The EU Naval Mission Irini is still operating in the Mediterranean. On Monday, a delegation from Operation Irini was actually visiting Libya’s eastern administration in Benghazi under the control of Field Marshall Khalifa Haftar.
On their X page, Operation Irini posted "a joint team from Operation Irini conducted a technical site survey in Benghazi for the MRCC project." During the day, they had meetings with the Libyan Coast Guard, the LAAF and the Port Authority, focused on infrastructure, utilities and security needs."
InfoMigrants reached out to the Irini press team, but has so far not received a response. Sea-Watch reposted the Irini post on their page with the caption: "Just to make sure we understand correctly: on the day that the EU-funded so-called Libyan coast guard shoots at Sea-Watch 5 and threatens to abduct us, the EU posts proudly about reproducing this violent system of deterrence from west to east Libya? @EU-Commission, any thoughts?!"
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Two more rescues
Also, early on Tuesday, the Sea-Watch crew carried out a further rescue of migrants, bringing around 64 additional migrants on board. Another rescue ship, Ocean Viking, also carried out a rescue this morning, confirmed the organization that operates the ship, SOS Mediterranée.
The migrant boat had 75 people on board and had been spotted by a surveillance plane, Sea Bird. A merchant ship was in the vicinity, but was allegedly ordered away by the Maltese authorities, claims Sea-Watch. "All survivors are safe on board," posted SOS Mediterranée on X, "They reportedly spent five days and four nights at sea," some were suffering from severe dehydration.
SOS Mediteranée adds that the crew of the tanker ship MV Kilburn stayed close to the migrant ship overnight until the Ocean Viking could reach them, "upholding its duty [to rescue endangered lives at sea] despite contradictory instructions from the Maltese authorities." The crew of the Ocean Viking claims that the Maltese authorities "did not coordinate or interact with our ship in any way."
The migrants on board the ship had feared that the Libyan coast guard might come to round them up too. SOS Mediterranée commented: "These 75 people are only alive thanks to the efforts of a humanitarian and a merchant vessel. They were abandoned at sea for five days by the authorities, while rescuers, such as Sea-Watch, are attacked and threatened by the EU-sponsored Libyan coast guard."
With translation of the Arabic voices by InfoMigrants’'Arabic Daline Salahie