Latest update:

After rescuing 200 people within four rescue operations Humanity 1 was detained in Crotone for 20 days due to false allegations of the authorities. The crossing to Siracusa to prepare for the next mission was authorised.

Last update 11 december 2023, 15:00 CET.

Rescue operations

4
Survivors

200
Minors

42
Pregnant women

2

The boats set off from Libya. None of the boats were equipped with navigation or rescue equipment. The people were defenceless against the weather in the unseaworthy boats.
Medical situation: The survivors were exhausted, seasick, dehydrated and partially hypothermic, disorientated, confused and potentially traumatised. Some showed signs of physical violence. One pregnant woman has had persistent abdominal pain for days.
Nationalities of survivors: Egypt, Ethiopia, Syrian Arab Republic, Chad, Eritrea, Ghana, Gambia, Pakistan, Sudan, South Sudan
As a port of safety was first assigned to Livorno in northern Italy. Due to the bad weather, the authorities assigned another port in Crotone, southern Italy, at the request of our captain.

Search and rescue operations

Karte vom zentralen Mittelmeer und den umliegenden Ländern mit den eingezeichneten Rettungseinsätzen.

Details:

Notification of distress at sea: Alarm Phone

Location: Libyan Search and Rescue Region, 29 nm from Libyan shore

Condition of boat: Overcrowded, unseaworthy, no lifejackets, no life saving equipment, ppl are exposed to the elements

Number of people: 90

Medical condition: Exhausted, some people with injuries

Timeline and communication with authorities:

06:15 CET Whilst patrolling in the Libyan search and rescue region (SRR) in position 33° 27.2 N 012° 15.5 E, Humanity 1 receives an email from Alarm Phone about a distress case in position 33° 20 N 012°21 E (white rubber boat, approx. 90 people on board).

06:42 CET Humanity 1 receives an email from Alarm Phone with information about and a position of another distress case.

06:43 CET The captain of Humanity 1 informs the Libyan, Italian and Maltese rescue coordination centres (LYJRCC, ITMRCC and MTRCC) by email that he will follow his duty to provide assistance in accordance with applicable maritime law under Article 98 UNCLOS, paragraph 1.1 of SOLAS Convention V/33 and SOLAS Convention, Annex, Chapter 1, paragraph 1.3.2, and search for the boat in distress reported at 06:15 CET, which is approximately 15 km away from the current position of Humanity 1. The captain of Humanity 1 receives no response from any rescue coordination centre during the search for the boat in distress.

07:11 CET The captain of Humanity 1 informs LYJRCC, ITMRCC, MTRCC via email about the arrival on scene, first assessment of the condition of the boat and that speedboats are being launched to assess the situation further.

07:34 CET The captain of Humanity 1 confirms to the relevant authorities via email that the situation is a distress case at sea and that he will commence rescue operations in accordance with his duty to render assistance without further delay to any person in distress at sea, as stipulated in Article 98 UNCLOS.

07:40 CET Humanity 1 calls LYJRCC. The call is answered by a person who cannot communicate in English and after a while the person ends the call.

07:42 CET Humanity 1 calls ITMRCC. The officer on duty refers to LYJRCC and provides additional contact details.

07:51 CET Humanity 1 again writes an email to LYJRCC.

07:53 CET Humanity 1 tries to call LYJRCC via phone via the numbers provided by the ITMRCC – one number is not answered, the other one is out of service.

08:06 CET Humanity 1 calls ITMRCC. The officer on duty refers to MTRCC and instructs the captain to call them for coordination of the case.

08:09 CET Humanity 1 calls MTRCC. The officer on duty refuses to coordinate the case, refers to LYJRCC as the competent authority for cases in the Libyan SRR and instructs the captain to call them.

08:10 CET Humanity 1 calls ITMRCC. Officer in duty gives instructions to call the German flag state, as well as RCC Tunisia.

08:16 CET Humanity 1 tries to call RCC Tunisia. RCC Tunisia does not answer the phone.

08:18 CET Humanity 1 calls the German flagstate who gives instructions to call the competent authorities in the Mediterranean Sea.

08:31 CET Seabird 1 calls Humanity 1 via VHF to give an updated position (33°30 N 012°21 E) for a boat in distress (white rubber boat, approx. 60-70 ppl on board, no lifesaving equipment). The description matches a distress case previously reported by Alarm Phone.

08:37 CET Completion of rescue operation; all crew, survivors and equipment back on board Humanity 1.

08:48 CET Humanity 1 receives an email from Seabird 1, with the position and description of the spotted distress case.

08:54 CET Humanity 1 informs LYJRCC, MTRCC and ITMRCC about the completion of the rescue of 90 people, requests a place of safety and informs about the reported open distress case, which is about 11 km away from Humanity 1, and asks for further instructions.
Notification of distress at sea: Alarm Phone, Seabird

Location: Libyan Search and Rescue Region

Condition of boat: Overcrowded, unseaworthy rubber boat, no lifejackets, no life saving equipment, people exposed to the elements

Number of people rescued: 46

Number of people pulled-back: about 35

Medical condition: Exhausted, potentially traumatised, partially confused and disoriented

Timeline and communication with authorities:

08:31 CET Seabird 1 calls Humanity 1 via VHF to give an updated position (33°30 N 012°21 E) for a boat in distress (white rubber boat, approx. 60-70 ppl on board, no lifesaving equipment). The description matches a distress case previously reported by Alarm Phone.

08:37 CET Completion of a rescue operation (rescue number 1).

08:48 CET Humanity 1 receives an email from Seabird 1, with the position and description of the spotted distress case.

08:54 CET Humanity 1 informs LYJRCC, MTRCC and ITMRCC about the completion of the rescue of 90 people, requests a place of safety and informs about the reported open distress case, which is about 11 km away from Humanity 1, and asks for further instructions.

08:57 CET Humanity 1 calls ITMRCC to inform about the distress alert by Seabird 1 and asking for coordination. ITMRCC instructs Humanity 1 to send an email with all relevant information about the case.

09:01 CET Humanity 1 tries to contact the vessel via VHF. No answer.

09:02 CET Seabird 1 calls Humanity 1 via VHF to give a situational update: The rubber boat is alongside a Libyan patrol vessel. The left sponson (alongside the Libyan patrol vessel) of the rubber boat is deflated. 30-40 people are in the water, trying to swim away from the Libyan patrol vessel. The Libyan vessel does not launch a RHIB to rescue the people in the water but takes more people from the deflated rubber boat on board.

09:05 CET Humanity 1 tries to contact the Libyan patrol vessel 656 via VHF. No answer.

09:06 CET Humanity 1 tries to contact Libyan patrol vessel 656 via VHF. No answer. Humanity 1 informs via VHF on channel 16 that the captain will now give instructions to launch the RHIBs to render assistance to the people in the water.

09:10 CET Humanity 1 sends the requested email to LYJRCC, MTRCC, ITMRCC, forwarding the email from Seabird 1, informing about the VHF conversation with Seabird 1 and that Humanity 1 is proceeding to the given position and the intention to render assistance to the people in distress.

09:13 CET Seabird 1 calls again and informs Humanity 1 that there are around 40 people in the water and updates their position.

09:13 CET Humanity 1 launches one RHIB to the water.

09:17 CET Humanity 1 calls again ITMRCC and updates about arriving on scene, seeing many people in the water, asking repeatedly for coordination of the case by ITMRCC, as no other RCC is answering requests for coordination. Officer on duty instructs captain of Humanity 1 to take any appropriate action to save lives of the people in the water.

09:20 CET Humanity 1 completes launching both RHIBs. Both RHIBs start to approach and rescue people in the water.

09:34 CET Humanity 1 sends another email to LYJRCC, ITMRCC, MTRCC reporting on the current situation (people in the water, Libyan patrol vessel on the scene) and asks for further instructions.

09:37 CET ITMRCC calls Humanity 1 and instructs to follow the orders of the Libyan patrol vessel.

09:39 CET Humanity 1 tries again to call Libyan patrol vessel via VHF. No answer.

09:41 CET Humanity 1 calls ITMRCC to report that the Libyan patrol vessel does not respond to VHF calls and about the actions to save lives undertaken by Humanity 1. The captain informs that 46 people are recovered to the RHIBs and asks for further instructions. ITMRCC instructs Humanity 1 to send another email with updated information.

09:45 CET Humanity 1 sends another email to LYJRCC, ITMRCC, MTRCC reporting on the current situation (46 people who have been in the water recovered to the RHIBs) and asks for further instructions.

09:46 CET Humanity 1 calls ITMRCC again. Officer on duty does not answer the call.

09:56 CET Humanity 1 receives an email from ITMRCC, assigning Livorno as the place of safety for the disembarkation of the survivors.

10:21 CET Humanity 1 sends an email to ITMRCC acknowledging the place of safety.

10:37 CET Humanity 1 receives email by Seabird 1 informing all relevant SAR-authorities about the incidents of the rescue operation.

10:40 CET End of rescue operation. All crew, 46 survivors and equipment on board Humanity 1.

10:41 CET Humanity 1, in position 33°30.2N 012°22.6E, writes an email to ITMRCC reporting about the completion of rescuing 46 people out of the water. Humanity 1 heads full speed towards North to the assigned place of safety, as instructed by ITMRCC.
Notification of distress at sea: no alert, spotted by crew during lookout

Location: Libyan Search and Rescue Region, 150 km off Libyan coast, 125 km off Tunisian coast

Condition of boat: Overcrowded, unseaworthy wooden boat, no lifejackets, no life saving equipment, pone engine broken

Number of people: 40

Medical condition: Exhausted, signs of hypothermia, pregnant woman with belly pain for a few days

Communication with authorities:

At 16:21 CET, a boat in distress is spotted from the bridge of Humanity 1, about 9 kilometres from her current position .

At 16:35 CET, the captain of Humanity 1 informs the rescue coordination centres in Malta, Italy and Libya aboutthe intention to set course for the reported distress case and provide assistance in accordance with applicable maritime law under Article 98 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, paragraph 1.1 of SOLAS Convention V/33 and the 1979 International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue, Annex, Chapter 1, paragraph 1.3.2.

At 16:55 CET, Humanity 1 reaches the boat in distress and the captain informs the relevant rescue coordination centres about the condition of the boat and the initiation of the rescue measures, which were previously coordinated by phone with the Italian rescue coordination centre.

At 17:44 CET, the MRCC Rome assigns Crotone to Humanity 1 as a port of safety for the disembarkation of the survivors – about 740 km from the place of the current postion of Humanity 1.

At 17:59 CET, the captain of Humanity 1 informs the relevant authorities that the rescue has been completed and that Humanity 1 has set course for the assigned port of safety in Crotone.
Notification of distress at sea: Alarm Phone

Location: Libyan Search and Rescue Region, 220 km off Libyan coast, 150km off Tunisian coast

Condition of boat: Heavily rlling, overcrowded, unseaworthy fibreglass boat, no lifejackets, no life saving equipment

Number of people: 24

Medical condition: Exhausted, headache

Communication with authorities:

At 18:05 CET, the bridge of Humanity 1 receives an email from Alarmphone with information about a boat in distress, about 27 km away, on the current route of Humanity 1 to the assigned port.

At 18:33 CET, the captain of Humanity 1 informs the rescue coordination centres in Malta, Italy and Libya about the intention to set course for the reported distress case and provide assistance in accordance with applicable maritime law under Article 98 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, paragraph 1.1 of SOLAS Convention V/33 and the 1979 International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue, Annex, Chapter 1, paragraph 1.3.2.

Following a telephone call with the Italian rescue coordination centre, the captain informs the rescue coordination centre by email at 19:52 CET that the Humanity 1 is on her way to the distress case to make an initial assessment as ordered by Italy.

At 22:20 CET, the Humanity 1 arrives on scene at the distress case. The captain informs the relevant rescue coordination centres that the speedboats will be llaunched, as it is not possible to make an assessment from a distance in the darkness.

At 22:40 CET, the captain informs the relevant rescue coordination centres about the condition of the boat and the initiation of rescue operations.

At 23:32 CEST, the captain of Humanity 1 informs the relevant authorities that the rescue has been completed.
Late in the evening of 2 December, Humanity 1 received a notice of detention for 20 days and fine of 3,333 € under the accusation of not complying with Italian Law no. 15/2023 based on lies.

Lie 1: Humanity 1 is accused of ignoring instructions from Libyan rescue coordination centre and the Libyan patrol vessel on scene on 30.11.2023.

“In position Lat. 33°30′ N – Long. 012º 22′ E, area S.A.R. Libyan area, while the Libyan patrol vessel ‘ZAWIYA’ was rescuing a dinghy (vessel already alongside and secured with ropes passed to begin the transhipment), the vessel ‘Humanity 1’ approached the area of operations, despite numerous radio calls with which the Libyan patrol vessel ordered to keep its distance in order not to hinder the rescue operations.”

What actually happened: Humanity 1 contacted the Libyan rescue coordination centre several times via e-mail and phone – first no English speaker available, then no answer at all. Before and when arriving on scene, the captain of Humanity 1 tries to contact the Libyan patrol vessel via VHF – no answer. Several calls remain unanswered. Despite many attempts to reach them, there was no communication by the Libyan authorities towards Humanity 1 at all.

See timeline of rescue 1 and 2.

Lie 2: “At that point, at the sight of the vessel ‘Humanity 1’, no. 43 migrants jumped into the water swimming towards the NGO’s rubber dinghies, which had been lowered into the sea in the meantime, risking losing their lives due to the prevailing sea conditions and the low water temperature.”

What actually happened: While Humanity 1 was on the way to the reported distress case by Alarm Phone and Seabird, Seabird informed Humanity 1 about people in the water trying to swim away from the Libyan patrol vessel. Humanity 1 was still 5 km away and the speedboats were not launched. The speedboats of Humanity 1 reached the people in the water more than 20 minutes later. The Libyan patrol vessel had taken no appropriate action to recover the people from the water. Without us taking action, 46 people would have drowned.

See timeline of rescue 1 and 2.