Life Support Rescues 41 People in the Central Mediterranean

In the early morning of 29 July, EMERGENCY’s search and rescue vessel, Life Support, rescued 41 people from a boat in distress in the international waters of the Libyan SAR region.

The small, overcrowded fibreglass boat was sighted from Life Support’s bridge just before 3:00 a.m. The rescue was completed when the 41 people, including three unaccompanied children, were safely transferred on board Life Support by about 3:45 a.m.

“At around 3.00 a.m. on Monday, 29 July, we began the rescue operations. Everything went well and we managed to get the 41 people on board,” says Anabel Montes Mier, Life Support Head of Mission. “During the operations, an unidentified boat without lights approached the area of intervention, but did not interfere.”

The rescued people reported leaving at midnight from Sabratha, Libya. Their countries of origin include Bangladesh, Egypt and Syria – all affected by war, violence, poverty, political instability and the climate crisis.

Two people on board the boat in distress refused to be rescued and, after the operation was completed, left together with the unidentified boat that had earlier approached the scene but not interfered.

“Having spotted the boat in distress with many people on board, we immediately alerted our rescue team and lowered the rescue dinghies into the water,” explains Domenico Pugliese, Captain of Life Support. “Our staff distributed life jackets to the people on board and transferred them safely to our ship. The authorities assigned Naples as the port of disembarkation: it will take us two and a half days to get there.”

Sauro Forni, nurse on board, adds: “Once the rescue operations were completed, we examined all 41 people on board. Some of them are suffering from dizziness and seasickness. In general, however, their health conditions are not concerning. We will continue to monitor them for the remainder of navigation.”

After completing the rescue and informing the relevant authorities, Life Support was assigned the port of Naples as the port of disembarkation. Arrival is scheduled for 31 July at approximately 6:00 p.m.

Life Support has been active in the Central Mediterranean since December 2022 and is carrying out its 22nd search and rescue mission. To date, it has rescued 1,897 people.