Thursday, 24.1.: The storm, the Sea-Watch 3 fights for hours, now has a seven-Meter-high waves, rain and icy Wind. This is the Team of the ship, wrote on Thursday evening on Twitter. And closed the call: “Europe, we need a safe port”. The Italian Minister of the interior Matteo Salvini affirmed in spite of the dramatic situation on the lake, that the ports are closed its country for the rescue ships. “No one will get off in Italy,” said Salvini. His country was prepared to bring medication and food on Board, “but Italian ports are, and will remain closed”. 20 humanitarian non-governmental organizations, including Save the Children, Amnesty International and Doctors without borders addressed an urgent appeal to Italy and Europe: The people should be released “immediately in a safe port”. Safety and protection of people live for a “highest priority”. Italy and all of Europe deceive a responsibility to ensure that there are no “new tragedies”took place on the sea.

The storm reaches a wind speed of at least 110 kilometres per hour. The Sea Watch is to the North and seek protection near the coast, is located 40 kilometers East of Sicily. The journey of the ship you can track in real-time. Ruben Neugebauer, spokesman of the Sea-Watch, a rating in the Germany radio of the impending end of the EU Mission to Sophia and reports from merchant ships, the refuse Save in the case of an emergency. (with AFP)

Wednesday, 23.1.: The Sea-Watch 3 continues to wait for permission, a safe Harbor control to let the 47 Rescued in the country. Requests to Italy and Malta, have not yet been answered simply. Now the weather conditions deteriorate: In the next few days, five meters are expected to be high waves.

Doctors without borders criticises the fact that in just the past two days, 250 people in violation of international law after the Libya and were brought back. Quote from the CEO: “Europe is in need of protection from drowning and forcing the Survivors in acute danger.”

Tuesday, 22.1.: The “Sea-Watch 3” is currently the only civilian rescue ship, operating in the Mediterranean sea. Since Saturday it has 47 Rescued on Board, the volunteers have no authorisation to make a secure port. During their last deployment, the ship had to wait 19 days on the open sea, until Rescued in the port of Malta were allowed to go ashore.

The second German rescue ship in the Mediterranean sea, the “Professor Albrecht Penck” of the German aid organization, the Sea-Eye, is provisionally put out of action. Also, you had to wait for your final two weeks, until it was handed over to the Rescued, what has added to the Association in a serious financial damage. In the next three weeks the ship is to be prepared for its next use, it is currently located in the port of Palma de Mallorca.

in addition, the civilian rescuers use the reconnaissance aircraft Moonbird. It searches from the air for undiscovered, in distress at sea dinghies and two-way radio to maintain contact with the rescue ships.

In the first days of the year more than 210 people are already in the Mediterranean, drowned plus the, whose bodies have not yet been discovered. The taz has today released an impressive Statement.

Monday, 22.1.: to save Instead of in the Mediterranean sea, trust guard, the EU countries, the so-called “Libyan coast”. Their ships are supposed to take Drowning on Board and into the civil war in the country. That the people there, torture and rape threatens, is known for a long time – appropriate horrors you can read reports about here in the case of Human Rights Watch. More recently, Ayoub Qassim, spokesman of the Libyan Navy has confirmed officially that it will guard the operations of its coast, by no means, to humanitarian missions is: “Those who leave Libya illegally via the sea should be criminalized […] and should be brought to justice” (source here).

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off the coast of Libya, The return of the civilian Maritime search and rescue

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Since the end of last year, two German rescue ship in the Mediterranean sea, one under the German flag again. A third boat is soon to follow. Click here to read the daily mirror report on the return of the civilian Maritime search and rescue from the 26.12.2018.