Civil Fleet

What is the Civil Fleet?

The Civil Fleet is a fleet of civilian monitoring and rescue vessels patrolling the Mediterranean, now the deadliest migration route in the world.

When Mediterranea Saving Humans was first founded, the organisations active in the Central Mediterranean could be counted on the fingers of one hand. Now the Civil Fleet is made up of 16 NGOs and has 17 ships and 3 aircrafts.

The joint coordinated action of the fleet guarantees the continuous, constant presence of civil society on the world’s deadliest border, carrying out monitoring and maritime search and rescue operations.

What is the Civil MRCC?

The Civil Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) is a coordination and documentation platform for people in distress in the Central Mediterranean Sea.

With over 20,000 migrants dead or gone missing since 2014, the Central Mediterranean is one of the world’s deadliest borders. The deaths in this area are not accidental. They are the result of policies, actions and omissions financed and enacted by the European Union and its member states.

With so many people choosing or being forced to risk their lives crossing the Central Mediterranean to seek protection in Europe, the EU member states, rather than guaranteeing a safe entry channel, have set up a system of mass forced repatriation to Libya and Tunisia.

The maritime authorities of the EU member states in the region have consequently become ever more dysfunctional, adopting a practice of systematic omissions and delayed responses while facilitating forced repatriation, in contravention of the laws of the sea and international human rights treaties.

The Civil MRCC was thus founded to guarantee the rescue of people in distress at sea and their disembarkation in a safe place, in strict compliance with international law.

Alarm Phone

Watch The Med Alarm Phone was created in October 2014 by networks of activists and civil society actors in Europe and North Africa. The project established a self-organised emergency number for migrants in distress in the Mediterranean Sea. Their main objective is to provide wider visibility to the SOS of migrants in distress. Alarm Phone documents the situation, informs the coast guards and, if necessary, mobilises additional rescue possibilities in real time.

https://alarmphone.org/

Twitter:
@alarm_phone

Emergency

The central Mediterranean Sea has been the world's most dangerous migration route for years: more than 20,000 migrants have died or gone missing since 2014, according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), an average of six people a day. More than 1,300 this year alone. Life Support is EMERGENCY's Search and Rescue (SAR) vessel in the central Mediterranean.

https://www.emergency.it/

Twitter:
@Emergency_ong

Iuventa Crew

The crew of the Iuventa conducted search and rescue operations during 2016 and 2017, until the vessel was seized by the Italian authorities on 2 August 2017. Part of the crew, along with other NGOs, was investigated for aiding and abetting unauthorised immigration. For six of the 10 defendants, the case was closed in March 2021. For the remaining four crew members, the case was opened.

https://iuventa-crew.org/

Twitter:
@iuventa-crew

Mare*Go

Those who live at sea know what it is like to find yourself in difficulty at the mercy of the waves. The idea of being in an unseaworthy boat that is in danger of capsizing, killing you, is a terrible thought. Even the refugees are terrified, considering what they have been through, for them the sea is the only alternative. That is why we respect their choice. We know that rescuing in itself does not solve problems in the long run, but it is our duty as human beings to take action... without judging.

https://mare-go.de/

Twitter:
@marego_vessel

Louise Michel

The MV Louise Michel is a former French Navy vessel customised for search and rescue operations. At 30 metres long and capable of reaching 28 knots, it was purchased with the proceeds from the sale of a Banksy artwork, and then decorated by the artist with a fire extinguisher. It is named after the French anarchist Louise Michel and aims to combine rescue with the principles of feminism, anti-racism and anti-fascism.

https://mvlouisemichel.org/

Twitter:
@MVLouiseMichel

Doctors Without Borders

Médecins Sans Frontières is an international non-governmental organisation, founded in Paris on December 22nd, 1971 by doctors and journalists, including Bernard Kouchner, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1999. It has been monitoring and conducting rescue operations in the Mediterranean since 2015. Since 2021 they have been operating on board the Geo Barents ship, equipped with a clinic, examination and obstetrics rooms. On board an MSF team consists of 20 people and 12 crew members

https://www.msf.org/

Twitter:
@MSF_Sea

Mediterranea Saving Humans

The idea of Mediterranea was born in the summer of 2018 out of indignation at the thousands of deaths in the Mediterranean and the policy of closed ports. From the union of people and associative realities, the civil society platform organised itself and in a short time put the first and still the only Italian-flagged civil rescue vessel at sea. Exactly five years after the tragic Lampedusa massacre, the Mare Jonio set sail from the port of Augusta for its first monitoring and rescue mission on the night of 3 to 4 October 2018.

https://mediterranearescue.org/

Twitter:
@RescueMed

Mission Lifeline

"Because every life counts. Every day, people risk their lives to flee their homeland. They drown in the Mediterranean. They suffer the cold in the forests on Europe's outer border. They live as prisonersǝ in inhuman camps - forgottenǝ and persǝ. We do not accept this. [...] Where states fail, we must act. That is why we founded MISSION LIFELINE in 2016."

https://mission-lifeline.de/en/

Twitter:
@lifeline_intl
@SEENOTRETTUNG

Open Arms

Open Arms is a humanitarian, non-governmental, non-profit organisation. Our main mission is to protect the lives of the most vulnerable in emergency situations. It originates from a sea rescue company with over 20 years of experience on the Spanish coast. We protect the lives of those abandonedǝ in international waters fleeing war, persecution and poverty.

https://www.openarms.es/en

Twitter:
@openarms_it
@openarms_found
@openarms_fund

Pilotes Volontaire

The action of Pilotes Volontaires consists of providing aerial observation support to the search and rescue operations at sea, enabling vessels in distress to be located. From the air, the pilots have a wider field of vision and flight speed enabling them to cover a vast search area. The combination of maritime and aerial forces greatly increases the chances of finding people in distress.

https://www.pilotes-volontaires.org/

Twitter:
@PVolontaires

R42 Sail & Rescue

The Imara is a sailing boat that monitors and performs first aid missions in the central Mediterranean between Sicily and Libya. On one of the world's deadliest routes, the EU is allowing thousands of desperate people to drown while fleeing — speculating it will operate as a deterrent. And it has continued unabated for years. This is unacceptable. Like other civil organisations, we want to draw attention to this inhumane practice and rescue people before they drown.

https://r42-sailtraining.org

Twitter:
@r42sailrescue

Sea Watch Airborne

Sea-Watch does not only operate at sea, but also in the sky. With its two monitoring aircraft it is able to cover a wide area of the sea, where it documents human rights violations and reports cases of danger. If, during one of its flights, it notices a maritime or air emergency, it reports it to the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centres (MRCCs) and rescue ships.

https://sea-watch.org/

ResQ People

Human beings, laws and rights continue to die in the Mediterranean. RESQ - People Saving People was born to give a concrete sign and counter the culture of indifference, putting another ship at sea to support women, men and children, forced to move from dramatic situations or willing to pursue their dream, as is their right.

https://resq.it

Twitter:
@resqpeople

ResQShip

The primary objective of ResqShip is to save lives. Every day, hundreds of people leave their homes, fleeing wars, persecution, rape, torture and hunger. They flee from hopelessness and despair. North Africa, and particularly Libya (a country in perpetual civil war), is a stopover for hundreds of thousands of people that has become a nightmare. Reprehensibly, there are no legal ways for people whose lives are threatened to reach safety — This is why ResQ came into being.

https://resqship.org/

Twitter:
@resqship_int
@resqship

Sea-Eye

Sea-Eye e. V. is a civil rescue organisation that was founded in 2015 to stop seeing people dying in the Mediterranean Sea. In rescue missions, it searches for and rescues people in danger at sea on the world's deadliest escape route and fights against the daily loss of life at sea.

https://sea-eye.org

Twitter:
@seaeyeorg

Sea Watch

Sea-Watch was born at the end of 2014 thanks to the initiative of a few volunteers who decided to no longer stand by and watch the thousands of people drowning in the Mediterranean Sea. It thus seeks to fill an institutional vacuum created by the end of the Mare Nostrum mandate, an operation that saved more than 130,000 lives but was not taken over by the EU.

https://sea-watch.org/

Twitter:
@seawatch_intl
@SeaWatchItaly
@seawatchcrew

Salvamento Marítimo Humanitario

In 2017, given the tragic situation in the central Mediterranean, thanks to the institutions and many volunteers, Salvamento Marítimo Humanitario decided to launch the maritime rescue project, AITA MARI- Proyecto Maydayterraneo. Because in the face of the humanitarian migratory crisis in the Mediterranean, people cannot be left to drown in utter abandonment.

https://www.smh.eus/

Twitter:
@smhumanitario
@maydayterraneo

SoS Humanity

Founded in 2015 in Berlin as SOS Méditerranée Germany, it has been operating in the central Mediterranean Sea since 2016. During this time, as part of the European network SOS Méditerranée, it has rescued 34,631 childrenǝ, women and men from drowning and brought themǝ to a place of safety. Since 1 January 2022, it has continued its work as SOS Humanity - independent of the former European network - and sent one of its ships to the Mediterranean Sea in August 2022.

https://sos-humanity.org/

Twitter:
@soshumanity_en
@soshumanity_de

SoS Méditerranée

SOS MEDITERRANEE is a European humanitarian organisation entirely funded by global solidarity and civil society support. With the Aquarius and then the Ocean Viking, SOS MEDITERRANEE has brought more than 31,000 men, women and children in danger in the Mediterranean to safety thanks to the support of thousands of European citizens.

https://sosmediterranee.it/

Twitter:
@SOSMedItalia
@SOSMedIntl
@SOSMedFrance

Sea Punks

Raphael had had enough of his job as a ship mechanic and bought a tugboat to start his own business. Upon seeing it, brothers Benjamin and Gerson said it looked more like a rescue boat at sea. The three agreed and decided to give it a try.

https://seapunks.de/

Twitter:
@sea_punks

Safe Passage Foundation

The Safe Passage Foundation (formerly known as Stiftungsfonds Zivile Seenotrettung) was founded in Germany in September 2019, when an appeal for donations made by comedians Jan Böhmermann and Klaas Heufer-Umlauf raised more than one million euros, following the rescue operation of Captain Carola Rackete and the ship Sea-Watch 3

https://safe-passage.org

Twitter:
@SPForg

United 4 Rescue

United4Rescue is a broad coalition supporting civil sea rescue missions. We network all organisations and groups that do not want to stand by and watch from the window while thousands of people die in the Mediterranean Sea. By collecting donations, we support relief organisations that act in a humanitarian manner where politics fails.

https://united4rescue.org

Twitter:
@United4Rescue

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