Search and rescue foundation Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) has launched an urgent appeal for funds following this week’s tragedy in Lampedusa which saw hundreds of migrants drown and others dye of hypothermia after being rescued.
MOAS, which aims to relaunch its operation next summer depending on funds collected, is a purpose-built search and rescue operation created with private funds to assist naval, commercial and private mariners in rescue at sea and successfully assisted 3,000 migrants during a 60-day mission last summer.
“What happened in Lampedusa is a tragedy. Unfortunately, it was an expected tragedy,” MOAS director Brigadier Martin Xuereb said.
The charity said that, according to reports, three rubber dinghies crammed beyond capacity by smugglers with hundreds of migrants left Libya last weekend.
The first responder was a tiny tug boat which waited some two hours for naval help from Operation Triton, by which time many were already dead. After around 100 people were rescued, at least 29 died from hypothermia on their way back to Lampedusa.
“The weather was cold, the sea was rough, there was wind chill and it had rained. It is also very likely that these people had been out at sea already for a considerable amount of time,” Brig. Xuereb said.
He added that such an incident at this time of the year indicated that migrants were desperate enough to leave in winter in makeshift rubber dinghies with no cover, a phenomenon rarely seen in previous years.
MOAS said it will be sending its 40-metre boat Phoenix together with an experienced crew of rescuers out to sea again to coordinate and assist emergencies during the critical six-month peak period from May to October, depending on how much funds it raised from public and private donors.
Founder Regina Catrambone recalled the ceremony held in Lampedusa last October to commemorate the hundreds of men, women and children who died in the October 2013 tragedies that inspired MOAS.
“In October 2014 we promised this would not happen again but now in 2015 we first hear that 29 people died of hypothermia and now it turns out almost 300 people drowned.”
She said that MOAS depended on the public to be able to go back to sea and assist in maritime emergencies.
Founder Christopher Catrambone also launched a special appeal to the maritime industry, that is required to respond to emergencies.
Seafarers transiting the Mediterranean would be especially affected by the numbers of refugees crossing from Libya to Italy now that projects like the Italian mission Mare Nostrum were no longer in operation, he said.
Due to the sheer number of migrant boats and the lack of EU assets to intercept them, commercial vessels had become the first line of defence in rescues. Yet, cargo ships and private sailors were unprepared for this kind of overwhelming emergency situation.
“They do not have medical personnel so they are unfamiliar on how to take care of the people involved. And this is a big part of the process, not only rescuing them but taking care of them after they’ve been rescued which can be critical to their lives, as we’ve learned in Lampedusa,” Mr Catrambone said.
Donations are being received here.