17 November 2024
49 Rescued People Disembark in Ancona

After five days of navigation from the rescue area to Ancona, a port in the northern Adriatic Sea assigned by the authorities, Life Support has disembarked the 49 people rescued last week in the central Mediterranean.

While on board, a Syrian woman, 40, shared her story:

After graduating as a pharmacist in Syria, I decided to move to Baghdad, because I couldn’t find a job in my country. It was not an easy choice, but my family was relying on me. I lived and worked in Iraq for several years. In August, I finally left.

I tried four times to cross the sea. Three times, we were intercepted in the water and forced to turn back. The fourth time, thanks to you, we succeeded. One of our engines had broken down and the other was malfunctioning. We would have been stuck in the middle of the sea and many of us were ready to die, but when we saw your red ship, we felt reborn. Now, I dream of joining family friends in England.”

This concludes Life Support‘s 26th mission since beginning search and rescue activities in December 2022.

13 November 2024
49 People Rescued in Maltese SAR Zone

Yesterday, Life Support rescued 49 people in distress in the international waters of the Maltese search and rescue zone. They were travelling on an overcrowded boat, without any life-saving equipment. Among them are six women and six unaccompanied children.

Jonathan, SAR Team Leader on board, provides an update:

 

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The rescued people come from Bangladesh, Egypt and Syria. They had left from Zawiya, Libya, in the early morning of 12 November.

Life Support has been assigned port the port of Ancona, Italy, which will require several more days to reach. Currently on its 26th mission in the Mediterranean, the ship has informed the relevant authorities of its availability for further rescue activities.

4 November 2024
72 Rescued People Disembark in Livorno

After more than three days of navigation, the 72 people rescued by Life Support have disembarked at the port of Livorno, the Place of Safety assigned by the Italian authorities.

“During this long voyage, we had the chance to get to know the rescued people,” says Chiara Picciocchi, Cultural Mediator on board. “For example, a Syrian-Palestinian boy had left Syria to move to Lebanon and then, when the conflict with Israel began, he was forced to return to his country, where his family lived in extreme poverty and he faced compulsory military service. So he made the difficult decision to leave and try to reach Europe via Libya. His goal is simply to have a better life, to be able to help his family and to see his rights respected.”

We wish all the best to the 72 rescued people who were finally able to go ashore today. Now, Life Support is preparing once again to return to the Mediterranean, and to save lives at sea.

31 October 2024
Life Support Rescues a Second Boat in Distress

Following the rescue of 38 people earlier today, Life Support received a report of a second boat in distress in international waters. The Italian MRCC authorised the ship to delay its arrival at the assigned port, Livorno, to assist the distress case.

Life Support rescued 34 people, including six unaccompanied children. Their countries of origin include Bangladesh, Egypt, Pakistan and Syria.

In total, 72 people have been rescued today. Now, the ship is on its way to Livorno to disembark the survivors.

31 October 2024
Life Support Rescues 38 People

“The engines were broken, the boat was taking on water and listing.”

Today, Life Support rescued 38 people, including 14 women and six children, of whom two are unaccompanied.

The rescue took place in the international waters of the Maltese SAR zone, after reports of a distress case by Alarm Phone and mayday relay on VHF channel 16. The rescued people, who originally come from Niger, Nigeria, Palestine and Syria, left Misrata, Libya at 2:00 on 30 October.

“The 38 people adrift on the fibreglass boat were exhausted from so many hours at sea, but fortunately the weather was calm,” reported Jonathan Naní la Terra, SAR Team Leader. “Our team of rescuers first secured everyone by distributing life jackets, and then brought the survivors on board Life Support. Now, our medical team is examining everyone to ascertain their health condition.”

When the rescue was completed, we informed the relevant authorities, who assigned Livorno as the Place of Safety. The Italian MRCC authorised a delay in arrival, as Life Support has received a new report of a boat in distress.

31 August 2024
170 Rescued People Disembark in Ravenna

170 people rescued by EMERGENCY’s search and rescue vessel Life Support disembarked in Ravenna, Italy today. The disembarkation process ended at 2 p.m.

“After more than four days at sea, we arrived in Ravenna for the disembarkation of the rescued people, an operation that took place smoothly and in cooperation with the local authorities,” says Laura Pinasco, commander of EMERGENCY’s Life Support. “We wish these people who were finally able to go ashore today all the best, while we prepare for the next missions.”

27 August 2024
Life Support Rescues Further 101 People

Overnight, Life Support rescued a further 101 people from boats in distress in the Mediterranean Sea, during two separate operations.

Yesterday, 158 people were rescued in three operations. Two were soon evacuated for medical reasons. After the additional rescues overnight – bringing the total number of people rescued during this mission to 259 – 88 people were transferred to a Coast Guard vessel and disembarked on the island of Lampedusa.

The medical condition of the people on board is stable,” explains Roberto Maccaroni, EMERGENCY medic on board Life Support. “Yesterday, however, we had to evacuate two people who were seriously unstable for medical reasons due to a very low level of oxygenation. This morning, we evacuated 88 people who were transferred onto the Coast Guard vessel: they were children, women, the elderly, and patients with chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and asthma, so that they could be taken care of by the medical staff ashore.”

After the additional rescues, Life Support was assigned a new Place of Safety – Ravenna – even further north than the original. It will take more than four days of navigation for the 169 remaining survivors on board to reach the POS for disembarkation.

In the meantime, Life Support is delayed from returning to the Mediterranean, where search and rescue ships are urgently needed.

26 August 2024
Life Support Rescues 158 People in Central Mediterranean

During the course of last night and this morning, Life Support rescued 158 people in the central Mediterranean. 156 of them are safe on Life Support, while two others were evacuated for medical reasons by a Coast Guard helicopter.

They had been poisoned by fuel inhalation, so we had to request the MedEvac.

We carried out three rescue operations in total. During the third, our SAR Team Leader Jonathan tells us that “the boat in distress was being followed by an unidentified Libyan vessel. As soon as the rescue team approached the boat, the vessel moved away and did not interfere with the rescue operation.”

We are now sailing towards Ancona, the assigned Place of Safety. We have four days of sailing ahead of us.

13 August 2024
64 Survivors Disembark in Ortona

This morning, 64 people rescued by Life Support during two rescue operations in the central Mediterranean disembarked in the port of Ortona after more than three days of navigation.

Earlier, an unaccompanied child was medically evacuated at Roccella Ionica, in southern Calabria.

“I was afraid for my safety and of being disappeared like so many others in Syria, so I decided to leave to try to reach Europe,” a Syrian boy on board told us. “The journey lasted more than two years and only now did I manage to leave Libya, where from the beginning my experience was marked by violence and exploitation, at the mercy of traffickers, militiamen, police. I tried to make the journey nine times and eight times I was arrested, or our boat broke down shortly after departure and we had to swim back. During these two years and counting, with my companions in misfortune we were beaten, tortured, sold like merchandise from one militia group to another.”

Today also marks the anniversary of the passing of Dr Gino Strada, EMERGENCY’s founder. Life Support was his last great project, and his inspiring words mark the side: “Human rights must be for all humans, every single one. If not, we should call them privileges.”

11 August 2024
Life Support En Route to Ortona With 65 Survivors On Board

Life Support conducted a second rescue operation on 9 August of 28 people, including 9 children – 6 of whom were unaccompanied.
This brings the total number of people rescued during Mission 23 to 65 people. Life Support is now en route to Ortona, the assigned Place of Safety.

 

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9 August 2024
37 People Rescued in Maltese SAR Region

During the night between Thursday 8 and Friday 9 August, EMERGENCY’s search and rescue vessel Life Support rescued 37 people who were on board a boat in distress in international waters in the Maltese SAR zone.

“The case of the boat in distress was reported to us by Alarm Phone by e-mail,” explains Jonathan Naní la Terra, SAR Team Leader on board Life Support. “So we immediately set out to look for it until we found it: the small fibreglass boat, about 9 metres long, had engines that didn’t work, the 37 people on board were without life jackets, had no water and were exhausted. Fortunately, the weather conditions were favourable and also thanks to the promptness of our rescue team, the intervention took place quickly and we got everyone safely on board Life Support”.

The people rescued come from Egypt, Eritrea, Syria and Bangladesh, countries affected by war, violence, and political and economic insecurity.

Ocean navigator Ambrogio Beccaria, who is on board Life Support as a rescuer for this mission, recounts: “I have only been on board for three days and about 24 hours after leaving Syracuse we carried out the first rescue operation. I understood why we trained so hard, because we got the 37 people on board in a very short time and in total safety.”

“In the last regatta I took part in, there were three shipwrecked people and it already seemed like a lot to me, but they were Europeans and after an experience like this you realise how much of a privilege a passport can be. Here, there are an unknown number of people risking their lives at sea. There are 37 people on board, but we know there are other boats that need help.”

After completing the rescue and informing the relevant authorities, the Italian MRCC (Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre) assigned Ortona as the Place of Safety and port of disembarkation.

Now, Life Support is on its way to another reported case of a vessel in distress.

29 July 2024
41 People Rescued in Libyan SAR Region

Early this morning, Life Support rescued 41 people, including three unaccompanied children, from an overcrowded boat in distress.

#LifeSupportSAR rescued 41 people, including 3 unaccompanied children, in the #Mediterranean. “During the operations, an unidentified boat without lights approached the area of intervention, but did not interfere,” says Ani, Head of Mission. #civilfleethttps://t.co/8nWnyVqhLP

— EMERGENCY NGO (@emergency_ngo) July 29, 2024

During the rescue operations, an unidentified boat without lights approached the area of intervention, but did not interfere. Two people on board the boat in distress refused to be rescued, and after the rescue operations were completed, left together on the second boat.

Life Support is now proceeding to Naples, the assigned port of disembarkation. It will take more than two more days of navigation to reach the port.

13 July 2024
178 People Disembark in Civitavecchia, Italy

On Saturday 13 July, 178 people rescued by Life Support during three rescue operations that took place the previous Wednesday disembarked at the port of Civitavecchia in Italy.

The survivors come from Bangladesh, Egypt, Sudan, South Sudan, Syria, Pakistan, Palestine, Morocco, Eritrea and Iraq: countries affected by war, poverty, economic and political instability, and natural disasters.

During one of the rescues in the Maltese SAR zone, a Libyan Coast Guard patrol boat approached.

“In the last days, other NGOs have witnessed diffferent actions taken by the Libyan coastguard such as interceptions and pullbacks of people, and also interefering with hostility when rescue ships were perfoming rescue operations,” says Anabel Montes Mier, Head of Mission on board. “We would like to highlight that Libya is not a place of safety, and no rescue operation can end there. This would mean a refoulement, which would breach international laws.”

 

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10 July 2024
178 People On Board Life Support After Three Rescue Operations

Between 5a.m. and midnight, the Life Support team conducted three rescue operations involving four boats in distress. The ship is now proceeding to its assigned port of disembarkation, Civitavecchia, with 178 survivors on board.

 

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This page shows updates from Life Support‘s latest missions. For updates from Life Support‘s previous missions, please see the archived update page for missions 1 through 20.