A series of rescues were conducted over 48 hours by the crews of rescue ships Sea-Watch 5 and the Aurora 2, both operated by the German-based NGO Sea-Watch. Crews on board reported repeated intimidation at sea by people claiming to be part of the Libyan navy.
Humanitarian rescue organization Sea-Watch rescued 227 people during a series of five rescue operations in the Central Mediterranean, which took place between Sunday afternoon, (October 11), and Monday evening, (October 12).
During the 48-hour period, the Sea-Watch vessels, Sea-Watch 5 and Aurora 2 came to the aid of boats that were in distress in international waters, Sea-Watch said in a statement.
On Sunday, the crew rescued 28 people from a sinking boat following an alert from an aircraft operated by the organization SOS Mediterranee. Another 51 people were rescued following an alert from the distress hotline Alarm Phone, which monitors migrant journeys across the Mediterranean.
Following this, on Monday morning, the Sea-Watch 5 was alerted to another boat in distress in a restricted area near an offshore oil platform. The crew reported that "an actor identifying themself over the radio as the Libyan Navy ordered Sea-Watch 5 to leave. The actor threatened to bring the crew to trial in Tripoli if it did not comply. The crew was eventually able to de-escalate the situation and rescue all 72 people."
A total of 151 people were rescued.
Meanwhile, the crew on board the Aurora 2 rescued another 76 people in two rescue operations on Monday (October 12). During the first operation, an unidentified grey fiberglass boat carrying four people approached Aurora 2 closely without making contact. Later that evening, the crew helped stabilize a sixth boat until the Italian Coast Guard arrived to take the people aboard.
Many of the passengers were reported to be suffering from severe fuel burns.
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'Turning distance into a weapon'
In their press release, Sea-Watch stated that the Italian authorities assigned Sea-Watch 5 the port of Civitavecchia, approximately three days' sailing away. Meanwhile, the Aurora 2 was assigned the port of Lampedusa, Due to its limited fuel reserves, Aurora 2 would not have been able to reach a more distant port. The Aurora 2 reached and docked at Lampedusa at approximately 9.30 pm.
"We are incredibly happy that 227 people survived the dangerous journey. The rescue of 227 people in 48 hours shows how urgently rescue ships are needed. Yet Italian authorities are sending our ship to a port about 900 kilometers away, turning distance into a weapon against civilian sea rescue. Deliberately reducing rescue capacity is a political choice with deadly consequences," said Julia Winkler, Sea-Watch spokesperson.
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Authorities knew
In another rescue operation last Tuesday (September 29), the crew of the Aurora rescued 28 survivors following a shipwreck. Two bodies, including a child, were recovered. Five survivors were found on an almost deflated rubber boat while 23 others had reached the Hasdrubal gas platform. At least six people remained missing, including three children from one family. The survivors and bodies were brought to Lampedusa the same day.
In a press release, Sea-Watch claimed that the authorities had known of the distress call for approximately 12 hours before the rescue. Sea-Watch also claimed there are indications that Frontex’s Eagle6 aircraft had flown near the distress case the day before (September 28).
Sea-Watch has put together a reconstruction of the events and argued that the sequence raises serious questions about the authorities' response.
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Delaying care and assistance through imposed distance
Reports from another NGO, the Italian medical humanitarian charity EMERGENCY highlight the scale of humanitarian rescue work in the central Mediterranean and the obstacles facing crews and migrants.
Last year, EMERGENCY’s Life Support Team conducted 10 search and rescue missions, completing 14 rescue operations and bringing 783 people to safety. A quarter of the migrants rescued are said to have been minors.
In a report entitled, Against The Current, EMERGENCY reported that assigning distant ports to NGO vessels prolonged survivors' journeys, delayed access to specialized healthcare and reduced rescue capacity. Calculating the additional distance traveled by their vessels in 2025, the humanitarian organization reported that these assignments required their ship Life Support to sail an additional 10,060 kilometers, adding 14 days at sea for rescued migrants and 28 days for its crew. A doctor and two nurses provided continuous onboard care, assessing everyone through medical triage after rescue. Across the year's missions, they delivered 440 consultations to 270 patients, more than a third of those rescued.
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