Busy weekend for EUNAVFOR MED ships
During the weekend of 26 and 27 September, the British HMS “Enterprise” and the German “Werra” were tasked to rescue 251 migrants sailing in danger of life in international waters, northbound the Libyan coast. The intervention was requested to EUNAVFOR MED Task Force by the Italian Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (I.M.R.C.C.) located in Rome.
The ship “Werra” rescued 140 people (among them 3 pregnant women) from a rubber boat. The migrants were then disembarked on the port of Augusta as requested by the competent I.M.R.C.C..
HMS “Enterprise” saved 111 lives sailing in distress on two dinghies in poor conditions and then transferred the migrants to a vessel belonging to the Italian Guardia di Finanza close to the port of Lampedusa.
“EUNAVFOR Med” was launched on the 22nd of June 2015 by the European Council with the aim of countering the activities of human smugglers and traffickers in the Mediterranean. The mission is currently concluding its first phase focused on intelligence gathering and is about to transit to the second phase as stated by the HR Federica Mogherini during her visit to the Operational HQ last 24 September.
Nevertheless, rescuing people at sea is a moral obligation as well as an activity settled by the international law (UNCLOS, SOLAS and SAR Conventions).
From the beginning of the operations, the “EUNAVFOR Med” ships have already been involved in several rescue activities, contributing to save the life of more than 2400 migrants.
