Life Support‘s Second Year at Sea
In 2024, EMERGENCY’s search and rescue ship Life Support continued to sail the Mediterranean Sea, rescuing people who risk their lives in search of a better future.
During our second year at sea, we continued to see the negative effects of the policies implemented by the EU and Italy:
- the legitimisation of actors responsible for interceptions
- collective push-backs and human rights violations
- the repetition of illegitimate practices that restrict the humanitarian space for NGOs operating in the central Mediterranean
- the continued criminalisation of people on the move, limiting their fundamental human rights
In the new report ‘An Inhumane Border,’ we show how the border of the Mediterranean has become a militarised space where migratory flows are hindered, as are the efforts of those who rescue.
A place where solidarity, in a legal and moral paradox, is treated as a crime.
Every day, in the Mediterranean, 6 people die or disappear
According to data from the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), 2,476 people are reported to have died or gone missing during a sea crossing in 2024 – about 6 per day. Since 2014, this total reaches 31,000 people dead or missing in the Mediterranean.
These numbers are underestimates, due to both the difficulty of monitoring shipwrecks at sea (so-called ‘invisible shipwrecks’) and the progressive disengagement of coastal states in their respective search and rescue zones.
In this context, the absence of legal channels of access to Europe and the numerous obstacles on the most established routes – such as interception and refoulement practices – are pushing people on the move to seek new routes to reach European coasts, such as the Atlantic route.
Inside our report ‘An Inhumane Border: Saving Lives in the Mediterranean Sea’
A snapshot of the current situation in the Mediterranean begins with a detailed analysis of EMERGENCY’s search and rescue activities in 2024, from the most frequent conditions treated by our medical staff on board to a spotlight on the countries of origin where widespread but forgotten humanitarian crises are unfolding.
The report then analyses recent political and administrative developments regarding sea rescue, including the establishment of the Tunisian Search and Rescue Region (SRR), the Italy-Albania protocol and the consequences of Italy’s Flussi Decree.
Instruments of deterrence that once again enforce a restrictive and securitised approach, the progressive externalisation of borders and ongoing human rights violations, as an emergency response to people on the move.
The continued effects of the Piantedosi Decree and the practice of assigning distant ports
The Piantedosi Decree continues to impact humanitarian vessels, limiting NGOs’ capacity for rescue operations.
In particular, the requirement to proceed immediately to the assigned Place of Safety often prevents the possibility to perform multiple rescues during one mission at sea. A violation carries an administrative penalty and detention of the vessel, putting more distress cases at risk of going unanswered.
Life Support is certified to hold up to 175 people, yet in 2024 rescued an average of 95 people per mission, just over half its capacity. If the maximum capacity could have been reached through multiple rescues, Life Support could have rescued at least 1,043 more people in 2024.
The assignment of distant ports also continues to severely limit the work of NGO vessels operating in the Mediterranean.
In 2024, Life Support was assigned the ports of Ravenna (3 times), Ancona (2), Livorno (2), Ortona (1), Civitavecchia (1), Naples (2), Vibo Valentia (1) and Catania (1).
This forced the ship to travel an average of 630 extra nautical miles per mission, requiring more than three additional days of navigation.
Details from Life Support’s Rescues in 2024
In 2024, Life Support travelled almost 39,000 km, sailing 139 days and carrying out 13 missions in the central Mediterranean. In 25 search and rescue operations at sea (including one without rescue), Life Support rescued 1,232 people.
Since the first beginning operations in December 2022, Life Support has rescued 2,701 people.
In 2024, the medical team on board performed 867 medical examinations on 519 patients, almost half of the people rescued. Of these outpatients, 58 were women, including two pregnant women, and 47 were minors.
You can’t just improvise a mission. Since the list of things that could happen is almost endless, you have to be prepared for every possible situation, above all on the medical front, and every member of staff on board is ready. That’s why we hold training sessions lasting several days before every mission on Life Support. 13 times in 2024, all of us – mediators, medical staff, rescuers and crew – found ourselves practising CPR and defibrillation for adults and children, simulating what to do in a mass casualty scenario, practising moving and evacuating patients on stretchers, and reviewing the protocol for controlling and preventing infection and contagion. We do these in the hope they will remain just exercises. Aware that if they are needed, everyone will know how to do their part.”
Roberto Maccaroni, Medical Director on Life Support
We continue to call for change in Europe
The report concludes with five key recommendations to foster a significant change in the approach to migration.
These recommendations aim to promote more inclusive, sustainable and humane policies that view migration not as a problem to be managed, but as a global phenomenon requiring shared, long-term solutions.
Life Support‘s first year at sea: ‘Saving Lives in the Abandoned Sea’
The report ‘An Inhumane Border: Saving Lives in the Mediterranean Sea’ is the second report on EMERGENCY’s activities on the central Mediterranean. Read about our first year of search and rescue in the report ‘Saving Lives in the Abandoned Sea.’
THE SECOND YEAR AT SEA
