On 6 November 2017, the crew of a Sea-Watch ship rescued 58 people in an operation hindered by the Libyan Navy. Twenty other people drowned.[1][2][3] Video footage that implicated the Libyan Coast Guard was later used in legal action against Italy in the European Court of Human Rights.[4]
2018
The ship Sea-Watch resumed her operations in November 2018[5][6][7] after it was detained in Malta between July and October.[8]
On 22 December 2018, another of the organisation's ships, Sea-Watch 3, rescued around 32 people,[9] but was unable to dock in Malta, Italy, or Spain.[10][11]
2019
On 3 January 2019, France, Germany and the Netherlands offered to take some of the 49 migrants blocked off Malta on Sea-Watch and Sea-Eye "as a collective allocation effort".[11][8] According to Mina Andreeva, the spokeswoman of the European Commission, more solidarity is needed along with "foreseeable and sustainable solutions for the landing and re-localization in the Mediterranean"; she quoted the commissioner in charge of migration, Dimitris Avramopoulos.[12]
Two weeks after the rescue, the 49 migrants were still blocked off Malta on Sea-Watch 3 and the Sea-Eye [de],[13] in spite of an appeal by Pope Francis.[14] On 9 January, they were finally allowed to disembark in Malta[15] after an agreement to relocate them to eight other European countries was reached.[16][17] On 19 January, Sea-Watch 3 rescued 47 further migrants. The Italian government forbade her from entering the port, and initiated legal action against the Netherlands;[18] the organisation referred the case to the European Court of Human Rights.[19] On 29 January, Italy, Germany, France, Malta, Portugal, Romania, and Luxembourg agreed to relocate the 47 migrants.[20]Deputy Prime Minister of ItalyMatteo Salvini demanded that Sea-Watch 3 be detained.[20] As the ship was docked at the Italian city Catania to land the migrants, she was blocked by the Italian military on the grounds of "several non-conformities"; the organisation called the obstruction political pressure.[21]
On 19 May 2019, the Italian police seized Sea-Watch 3 at the island Lampedusa, allowing the disembarking of the 47 migrants whom she had recently picked up on 15 May 2019.[22][23] Reports of the operations angered Matteo Salvini, who opposed the landing of the migrants.[23][24] In June 2019, the ship was again detained; 53 migrants had been rescued from the coast of Libya on 12 June.[25] Italy allowed only 11 especially vulnerable people to disembark; on 25 June 2019, the captain of Sea-Watch 3 threatened to land at Lampedusa in spite of the interdiction,[26] eventually entering Italian territorial waters. According to the organisation, it was "not as a provocative act, but out of necessity and responsibility".[27][28][29] A column in French newspaper Le Monde stated that Captain Carola Rackete was only "reminding us all of the existence of international conventions such as that stating rescue at sea is a duty for all".[30] In an editorial in the same newspaper, 700 celebrities supported the migrants and opposed Salvini.[31] A poll by Italian daily Il Giornale showed that 61% of Italians were opposed to Sea-Watch 3 landing at Lampedusa.[32] During the night of 28 to 29 June, the ship was seized, and Carola Rackete was arrested for helping illegal immigration.[33]Sea-Watch 3 later collided with the 50-knot Class 800 patrol boat[34] "808" of Italian law enforcement agency Guardia di Finanza, which had tried to block the larger vessel from docking. The boat[clarification needed] was pushed against the dock and slightly damaged.[35] Since the Guardia di Finanza was legally considered a combatant while it protected waterways, the Italian media reported that Rackete could also be charged with attack on a warship, a crime punishable with 3 to 10 years in prison.[36] Two days later, an Italian judge decided that no further incarceration was necessary, and Rackete was released. As of July 2019[update], the criminal investigation continues.[37]
Cooperation with Protestant Church
The sea rescue ship Sea-Watch 4 (with the suffix "powered by United4Rescue"), financed by the Protestant Church in Germany (EKD), was deployed under the direction of Sea-Watch in 2020.[38] For this purpose, the sponsoring association, Rescue Together (Gemeinsam Retten), was set up, with Thies Gundlach from the EKD as the first chairman and Michael Schwickart from Sea-Watch as the second chairman.
Ships
Sea-Watch is a former 21.12-meter (69 ft 3 in) fishing ship. Built in 1917[39] and purchased in 2015, Sea-Watch used her in 2015 until she was transferred later that year to the organisation Mare Liberum, receiving the name Mare Liberum.
Sea-Watch 2 is a former fishing research ship, originally entering service as Clupea in 1968. She was deployed on 14-day rescue operations between Libya and Malta in 2016 and 2017 along with Sea-Watch. Sold to the organisation Mission Lifeline, she now operates under the name Lifeline.[40]
Sea-Watch 3 is a 50.53-meter (165 ft 9 in) ship. Built in 1972 as an offshore supply ship, the organisation Médecins Sans Frontières commissioned it as a search and rescue vessel under the name Dignity I before transfer to Sea-Watch.[41]
Sea-Watch 4 is a 60.70-meter (199 ft 2 in) ship. Built in 1976 as a research ship, the Evangelical Church in Germany formed an association to buy the ship in early 2020. The ship is run by a cooperation between Sea-Watch and Médecins Sans Frontières and operated as a German-flagged rescue vessel in the Mediterranean Sea since August 2020.[42]
The Sea-Watch 5 is a 58-meter (190 ft 3 in) ship.[43] It started its work with Sea-Watch in December 2023.[44] The ship rescued 49 migrants off Malta on 22 November 2024.[45]
Ships of Sea-Watch
MS Sea-Watch, a 100-year old former fishing cutter, on her first mission
MS Sea-Watch surrounded by refugee boats and life rafts while it waits for assistance on 5 July 2015
Sea-Watch 2 crowded with survivors who cover themselves in rescue blankets on 19 March 2017
Sea-Watch 3 patrolling the central Mediterranean search and rescue area on 19 December 2018, two days before the rescue of 32 people. The incident led to an 18-day standoff in front of Malta.
^"Sea-Watch 3, l'honneur de désobéir" [Sea-Watch 3, the honor of disobeying]. France Culture (in French). 2019-06-27. Archived from the original on 2019-06-27. Retrieved 2019-06-27.
^"Vedetta costiera V.800" [Coastguard cutter V.800] (PDF). GDF.gov.it (in Italian). 2019-06-29. Archived(PDF) from the original on 2019-06-30. Retrieved 2019-06-30.