10 YEARS OF CIVIL SEA RESCUE
10 YEARS OF SOLIDARITY
10 YEARS OF REPRESSION

We refuse this deadly and unjust border regime! We refuse and resist against deportations and detention, against push backs and the criminalization of migration.
Migrant deaths are not a fatality!

Freedom of movement is a possibility, we saw it, and we see it every day in the cracks of Europe's borders!

Read the whole joint statement:
https://mvlouisemichel.org/press/

The Louise Michel is back at sea
Our crew assisted a boat with 30 people on board

Yesterday evening the Louise Michel departed from Sicily towards the Central Mediterranean. During the night our crew was alerted by the civil emergency hotline @alarm_phone about an overcrowded boat south of Lampedusa.

On the way there our crew found a wooden boat with 20-30 people on it and stayed until #guardiadifinanza za took over and brought everyone safely to #Lampedusa.

Meanwhile tragically another boat in distress, spotted and alerted by #frontex , has most likely been intercepted.

Frontex has been proven to be involved in illegal interceptions and pushing people back to #Libya.

The Louise Michel continues sailing in this area and is ready to assist.

Solidarity and Resistance

67 people on board the Louise Michel

Today 67 people, including an 8 months pregnant woman were safely embarked onto the Louise Michel.

The unseaworthy, wooden double decker boat was spotted previously from the civil aircraft Seabird, by @seawatchcrew

„We know about your hard and stressful working conditions as seafarers, so today we send you our deepest thanks for every rescue you have carried out!

In the Mediterranean Sea, as well as in the Atlantic and the English Channel, you often rescue refugees who are in distress. Sometimes the boats are small, and sometimes they are very big, and they are almost always overcrowded. We have seen how you carry out these rescues no matter the weather conditions, even though when the waves are high it is dangerous for you as well.

We know that when you provide help your vessel becomes delayed, meaning there is more stress and harder work for you in the next port. But your hearts are wide, and you don’t want to pass by when brothers, sisters and their children are close to drowning.

Today we want to say: we see you! We will never forget every one of you who did what they could to stand by the side of the people in distress...“

https://alarmphone.org/en/2024/12/30/dear-seafarers/

Doctors Without Borders is suspending its Mediterranean rescue operation due to restrictions imposed by the Italian government under Giorgia Meloni.

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In the past two years, Geo Barents faced four sanctions by the Italian authorities, imposing a total of 160 days of detention in port. These punitive measures came under the Piantedosi Decree, a law that was introduced by the Italian government in the beginning of 2023 that limits the operations of non-governmental (NGO) rescue ships in the Mediterranean Sea and undermines the maritime historical humanitarian and legal duty to save lives at sea. This month, Italy further intensified the sanctions by making it easier and faster to confiscate humanitarian search and rescue vessels.

The practice of Italian authorities of assigning distant ports, frequently in the north, to disembark people rescued at sea has further undermined the capacity of the Geo Barents to save lives at sea and be present where it is needed the most. Since the implementation of the Piantedosi Decree, the Geo Barents has spent half a year navigating to and back from distant ports instead of assisting people in distress.

In June 2023, the Italian authorities instructed the Geo Barents, which can fit to up to 600 people on board, to head to La Spezia, in the north of Italy, to disembark 13 survivors. This amounted to navigating more than 600 miles, despite the availability of much closer ports.

“After careful consideration, we have come to the conclusion that it is untenable to operate the Geo Barents under such absurd and senseless Italian laws and policies,” said Gil. “The rescue capacity of humanitarian vessels has been significantly underutilized and actively undermined by the Italian authorities.”

https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/latest/msf-pauses-search-and-rescue-operations-mediterranean-indefinitely

55 people have drowned in devastating shipwreck in front of the Canary Islands

In the first days of November, 55 people have died along the migration path to the Canary Islands. Another 1,786 people rescued in operations near Lanzarote and El Hierro.

The migration route along the Atlantic has become an increasingly common path to Europe, with its primary departure points in southern Morocco, Mauritania, and Senegal.

With the escalation of violent interceptions by Libya and Tunisia, with the support of the EU, other dangerous migration routes have been used by people seeking safety in Europe.

For those trying to reach Europe from Senegal, the crossing is nearly 10 times longer than other Mediterranean routes.

Many boats, without proper navigation systems, are veering off course and some are drifting across the Atlantic to the shores of Brazil, taking hundreds of lives with them.

These are not numbers. These are human lives. The right seek asylum is a right protected by international law.

Rest in power.

Sea rescue costs money - Thank you to everyone who supports our vital work.

We would like to thank everyone who has donated to us or supports us in any way. Special thanks today to the @‌postcodelottery, who have supported us this year with a donation of 100k Euros.

Thanks to this generosity we are able to tackle the rising costs of running a rescue vessel.

If you would like to support our work further, you can donate now or buy a shirt, exclusively designed by @‌banksy→ www.mvlouisemichel.org

When the neofascist Farage criticised the RNLI for saving migrants from the English Channel/Manche, like many, I made a donation to support their work.
In this edition of their newsletter there's a moving story from Dover lifeboat about the rescue of 68+19 people from 2 boats on one trip, then coming back across busy shipping lanes with 1 engine broken.
Real heroes.
They rescue anyone without prejudice and rely on voluntary donations.
Donate at https://RNLI.org
#migrants #SeaRescue

The MV Louise Michel is almost ready for our next rotation.
After a necessary longer period in the shipyard, our ship is back in the water and the new crew is already in training.
Soon we will be back in the central Mediterranean Sea, one of the deadliest and busiest migration routes in the world.
We stand in solidarity with all those in search of safety. For freedom of movement for everyone.

Solidarity and Resistance.

Louise Michel is having an engine overhaul

After 4 years with us and several years before at sea, Louise Michel gets a complete engine overhaul. Our engineers have torn the whole engine into pieces and put them part by part together again. Soon, the ready-to-use engine will be brought back to the ship so that the Louise Michel can sail back to the central Mediterranean.

We will be back at sea as soon as possible with refurbished engines ready to stand in solidarity with people on the move.

The engine overhaul was just one part of our long-planned maintenance period this winter. If you want to support us and our work, donate now!
https://www.betterplace.org/de/projects/132229-mv-louise-michel-2024

Impressive photo essay by photographer Raphael Schumacher, who was a crew member on two rescue missions in the Mediterranean with the rescue ship SOS Humanity 1.
More images: https://raphaelschumacher.com/all-numbers-end-sos-humanity-2023
#photography #photojournalism #searescue

The EU Fundamental Rights Agency criticises repression against #SeaRescue. States initiated over 63 proceedings in seven years against ships and crews:
https://digit.site36.net/2023/10/23/eu-agency-criticises-repression-against-sea-rescuers-states-initiated-over-63-proceedings-in-seven-years
The measures have a deterrent effect and intimidate civil society actors, the @EURightsAgency says.

"Ready for Rescue" - in Kürze startet das #CompassCollective den 3. Einsatz zur Unterstützung der #Seenotrettung im Mittelmeer. Mach den nächsten Einsatz mit deiner Spende möglich: https://betterplace.org/de/projects/121266 #civilfleet #searescue #trotamarIII

Dear Europe,

This is how #rescue at sea looks like:

Best regards,
Thousands of people drowned in the Mediterranean

"Authorities established radio and visual contact with Doerr by air after picking up the distress call, (...). Two merchant vessels were diverted to the 6.5-metre sailing yacht’s location (...)."

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jul/07/solo-sailor-caught-in-huge-swells-in-great-australian-bight-issues-emergency-signal
#Refugees #asylum #righttoasylum #searescue #ruleoflaw #humanrights

Current events reminded me of this.

"It would be more seemly to drown like a gentleman."

• Blondie Hasler, 1956 when setting out on an atlantic crossing in his experimental 25 foot boat.

It also appalls me that there's a huge freaking sea rescue operation for 5 ppl in a sub that (should've) knew the risk, but silence when 700 refugees drown in the Med.

Die #SeaPunkOne ist endlich soweit und steht kurz vor der ersten Mission #MED

Dafür wird aktuell noch nach ein paar Positionen gesucht:
- Head of Operation
- Navigator/ Officer
- Cult. Mediator or Guest Care

Bei Interesse kann sich bei crewing@seapunks.de gemeldet werden.

Dringend
Die #SeaEye4 ist gerade in der Werft im spanischen #Burriana und wird auf den nächsten Einsatz vorbereitet. Die Werftcrew sucht dringend qualifizierte Elektrodenschweißer*innen mit Erfahrung, die selbständig Baustellen abschließen können. Wenn wer kurzfristig Zeit hat darf sich gerne bei shipyardcrewing@sea-eye.de melden.
Gemeinsam besprecht ihr alles zur Anreise, Aufenthalt und Arbeit. Im besten falle ab sofort.

#Shipyard #SeaRescue