Yesterday, #OceanViking received a Mayday relay from an aircraft: an overcrowded rubber boat in distress, in international waters within the Libyan SRR. We were 1h30 away and immediately headed to assist the people in danger at sea. 👇

The 35,000 milestone of people who disappeared in the Mediterranean sea since @UNmigration started to report them in 2014, has just been reached. This is neither an accident nor unavoidable. It is the result of deliberate policies that turn the sea into a wall, then a graveyard.

Thanks to the collaboration between @alarmphone, our aircraft #AlbatrossUNO & rescue ship Solidaire, 56p. will reach safety after drifting at sea. While the EU Pact entering into force today prioritises deterrence and border control, civil society keeps mobilising to save lives.

Despite the dangers of the #CentralMediterranean, people continue to attempt the crossing in overcrowded boats in unseaworthy conditions. Every rescue is a reminder that dedicated search and rescue capacity, as well as safe and predictable rescue mechanisms, are #urgently needed.

This morning, the #OceanViking rescued 68 people from an overcrowded fiberglass boat in distress spotted from the bridge, in the #MalteseSAR. Survivors reported spending 24 hours at sea after departing #Libya. Many were found exhausted and dehydrated. They are now safe on board.

From violence and detention in Libya to days lost at sea, their journey did not end with a rescue. The #OceanViking was forced to sail 1500km to a place of safety. Assigning distant ports keeps survivors longer at sea & SAR vessels away from where they are most needed: at sea.

Four days after their rescue, 25 people finally stepped ashore in #Ancona. Half are minors, including 2 women, one pregnant. They were found in distress at night on a damaged, overcrowded rubber boat taking on water. They are now #safe and we wish them well.

These deaths could be avoided. They are the result of policy choices: withdrawal of state rescue, outsourcing to Libya/Tunisia & obstruction of NGOs. Without witnesses, data and identification systems, deaths at sea are not only undercounted, they are becoming uncountable.

The people had spent 2 nights at sea and 4 nights exposed to a stormy weather on the platform before we were able to rescue them. Many endured this additional hardship after fleeing conflicts, wars and persecutions in their home country, across the #Sahara and in #Libya.

Some survivors report being sold by #Tunisian forces to #Libyan militias at the border between the 2 countries after being intercepted at sea. Others recount being #enslaved for months by unidentified #Libyan groups, leading to people losing their life in the #detention #centers.

After sailing 1100km for 3,5 days from the #Miskar offshore platform, we finally disembarked 116 survivors in Marina di Carrara, the Place of Safety assigned by Italian authorities. Among them, more than a third were #unaccompanied #minors, who are particularly vulnerable.

Several alerts of boats in distress were issued while #OceanViking was sent 1296kms away. Some were intercepted back to Libya, some rescued by Italian CG, some remain unknown. We rescued 100 people in one day, 43,073 in the past 10 years. We will be here as long as we are needed

After navigating for more than 4 days, the 100 survivors rescued on March 5 finally disembarked in Ancona. Some, including teenagers, have been trying to reach safety for years, escaping war, persecution and violence in their home countries and #Libya.

Yesterday, as we were heading towards #Ancona, the assigned Place of Safety, we received an alert from @alarmphone.bsky.social about a wooden boat in distress 30NM away with 64 people on board. After receiving green light from Italian authorities, we rescued the drifting overcrowded boat.

Survivors, who come mainly from Sudan, include 8 unaccompanied minors. They report spending two nights at sea after fleeing #Tripoli. We recovered them weak and very cold. They were exposed to strong gasoline vapours and show signs of intoxication. They are now slowly recovering.

Last night, after receiving an alert from @alarmphone.bsky.social we sailed south and found a small rubber boat drifting in the middle of high waves, in the Libyan Search and Rescue Region. We brought back 36 people to safety on the #OceanViking.

#ALBATROSSUNO located a boat in distress 60nm SE of Malta. A merchant vessel diverted to assist - Maltese authorities ordered her to stop. We witnessed her change course away. How despite our assessment can a RCC instruct a MV ready to assist no to proceed and abandon people?

Several people were rescued by civil SAR vessels and the Italian Coast Guard, including a woman who gave birth on board a rubber boat. Some of the boats we spotted were on fire, others were drifting, half-submerged, with no engine and no markings. A sign of prior interceptions.

Between 27 Feb. & 1 March, #ALBATROSSUNO flew for approx 12 hours over the Central Mediterranean, monitoring and searching for distress cases. We spotted 10 boats and approximately 210 people in distress at sea. Every time, we relayed the information gathered to the authorities.

We witnessed the interception by the Libyan Coast Guard of an unseaworthy overcrowded black rubber boat carrying approx 30 people on March 1, while monitoring with our civilian aircraft #ALBATROSSUNO in the Libyan SAR zone. That is not rescue.

We are relieved to have brought 147 people to safety in #Livorno after three & half days at sea. Yet at least 606 people have already died in the Mediterranean in 2026, the deadliest start of a year since #IOM began recording data in 2014, with many people still unaccounted for.

No #searchandrescue response was launched before the shipwreck. Rescue assets reached the scene only after the tragedy. Judicial proceedings are ongoing. Cutro shows what happens when distress at sea is not met with precaution and prompt rescue. #Accountability remains essential.

Three years ago, on 26 February 2023, a wooden boat crashed against the rocks and sank a few meters from the shore of #Cutro, Italy. 94 people died, including at least 35 children. The boat had been detected hours earlier without any appropriate reaction from authorities.

@sea-watch.org Aurora reached the scene minutes before a Libyan CG unit. The 22 people on board were rescued, and one was medically evacuated shortly after. In the #CentralMediterranean, outcomes depend on who arrives first, determining life or death and access to a place of safety

Monday, Feb.23 rescue in the Maltese SRR reflects a broader pattern in the Central Mediterranean. An Italian aerial asset had already spotted the boat. Once on the scene, #ALBATROSSUNO relayed the case to the authorities and to civil SAR actors.

As part of its civilian aerial monitoring activities conducted with @hpiswiss.bsky.social, #AlbatrossUNO is carrying out observation flights over the Central Mediterranean. Timely sighting & the presence of rescue assets remain essential to saving lives. No one in distress should go unseen.

Today, #AlbatrossUNO was monitoring from the sky, and sighted an overcrowded boat in the Maltese Search & Rescue Region, allowing the #OceanViking to rescue 50 people in distress. The information was relayed to the competent authorities in line with international and Italian regulations.

The double-decker wooden boat in distress was found in the overlapping Tunisian and Maltese Search & Rescue Region, and the rescue was acknowledged by Tunisian MRCC. Italian authorities assigned us the distant port of Livorno as a Place of Safety, over 3 days of navigation away .

Last night, the crew on the #OceanViking performed the rescue of 97 people, including 14 unaccompanied minors, following an alert by @alarm_phone. Many were dehydrated and two people required medical intervention. They had left from Zuwarah, Libya, two days earlier.

Two days ago, the #OceanViking recovered the body of a woman in the Central Mediterranean. She may be one of the more than 1,000 people who disappeared during Cyclone Harry. An estimate based on testimonies collected by @refugeesinlibya.bsky.social States remain silent.