AURORA SAR
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28 migrants rescued, six missing, two recovered dead
The 'Aurora' has rescued 28 migrants in the Mediterranean, the NGO Sea-Watch announced on Sep 29. Two people, including a child, had deceased, and their bodies were recovered. The 'Aurora' responded after receiving a distress alert and located a nearly deflated rubber boat in international waters near the Gulf of Gabes. 23 survivors had reached the offshore Hasdrubal gas platform, after the boat deflated. Five more survivors were found aboard the partially deflated rubber boat. Two bodies were recovered, including that of a child. At least six people remained missing. The missing included three children from the same family. One toddler was among those rescued. The 'Aurora' recovered the survivors and bodies before heading towards Lampedusa, which Italian authorities designated as the place for disembarkation.
NGO ship detained in Lampedusa after rescue operation
Following the rescue of 44 stranded people from the abandoned Didon oil platform in international waters in the Mediterranean, Italian authorities have impounded the 'Aurora' and fined the operator Sea-Watch between €2,000 and €10,000. The exact length of the impoundment and the amount of the fine was to be communicate in the coming days. The survivors had been stranded on the platform since April 6, 2026. After the Easter weekend, 71 people remained missing due to another shipwreck in the central Mediterranean. Previously, at least 104 people had died within a few days while attempting to cross the sea. The Italian Coastguard recovered 19 bodies on April 1. After the initiative Watch the Med Alarm Phone alerted European authorities to the stranded individuals on April 1, the crew of the 'Aurora' sailed towards the oil platform on April 3. They took all the survivors on board and brought them safely to the island of Lampedusa on the morning of April 4. The Italian authorities have then detained the rescue ship based on the so-called Piantedosi Decree. They stated that the organisation failed to inform the Libyan authorities about its rescue operation. Just over a week ago, the Italian authorities also detained Sea-Watch's second rescue ship, the 'Sea-Watch 5'. More than 70 acts of extreme violence by Libyan actors—including the firing on rescue ships and people fleeing persecution—have been documented in the Mediterranean in the last 10 years, the majority of them by the so-called Libyan Coastguard. In 2025 alone, more than 20 such incidents were recorded. On Nov 5, 2025, 13 sea rescue organisations joined forces to form the Justice Fleet alliance and ceased their operational communication with Libyan authorities. They have already won two cases in Italian courts. In recent years, Italian courts have repeatedly emphasised the life-saving role of civilian sea rescue and clarified that the so-called Libyan Coastguard and the Libyan MRCC were not legitimate rescue actors and that following their instructions violated international law.
Detention after rescue operation
The 'Aurora SAR' has been detained in the port of Pozzallo after its crew disembarked 75 people that they had rescued in international waters on Sep 6. The boat had been assigned to the port of Reggio Calabria on the Italian mainland but it was unable to reach it due to a shortage of fuel. As a result, the MRCC in Rome changed the assigned port in the morning of Sep 7. However, the ship was eventually detained on the grounds that it could have reached Reggio Calabria contrary to its own statements and the MRCC’s decision. Commenting on the Ministry of the Interior’s decision to impound the ship, Isabell Nohr from Sea-Watch said: “The detention is based on flimsy grounds and is part of a political strategy designed to make sea rescue impossible and endanger human lives. Instead of ensuring compliance with international obligations, the Italian government is blocking recuse ships and trying by all means to prevent people fleeing their countries from reaching Europe.”
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