[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.25.1″ min_height=”1257.2px” custom_margin=”-100px||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.2″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”-24px|auto||auto||” custom_padding=”0px|||||” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.27.2″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text admin_label=”During NADIR\u2019s second operation” _builder_version=”4.27.9″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
For the second operation in 2026, NADIR\u2019s crew departed from Malta on 5 April, after finishing operational briefings and stocking supplies on board. The following morning NADIR and its crew arrived off the coast of Lampedusa to carry out further rescue trainings and internalize important processes. That same morning, many requests for help came in from the NGO AlarmPhone. Unfortunately, all of them were too far from our position to respond to. During the following days, we headed to the operational area, which locates in international waters within the Libyan SAR zone, north of the MISKAR oil platform.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”On the morning of 8 April, around 5 a.m.,” _builder_version=”4.27.9″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n On the morning of <\/span>8 <\/span>April, around 5 a.m., the <\/span>NADIR<\/span> crew members on watch detected two boats on the radar near the <\/span>NADIR<\/span>, moving with their lights off, which were then identified as vessels of the <\/span>so-called <\/span>Libyan <\/span>C<\/span>oast <\/span>G<\/span>uard.<\/span> They contacted us <\/span>via<\/span> VHF<\/span>,<\/span> asking if we <\/span>were in need of<\/span> something<\/span>. They were<\/span> observing<\/span> us<\/span> for several hours without interacting with us<\/span> fur<\/span>ther<\/span>, just <\/span>monitorin<\/span>g<\/span> from a <\/span>distance<\/span>.<\/span> L<\/span>ater<\/span> in the morning, <\/span>long after daybreak<\/span>, they suddenly left at full speed<\/span>.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/resqship.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2026_04_08_RESQSHIP_OP2_EricaVarone_015.jpg” alt=”scLCG-Patrouille auf dem Mittelmeer” title_text=”2026_04_08_RESQSHIP_OP2_EricaVarone_015″ force_fullwidth=”on” admin_label=”Bild” _builder_version=”4.27.9″ _module_preset=”default” height=”auto” custom_padding=”|0px||0px||” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text admin_label=”Patrolling the empty seas ” _builder_version=”4.27.9″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Later that same day, in the evening, AlarmPhone sent a request for help for a boat in distress not <\/span>very <\/span>far from us. We headed to the coordinates we had been given but did not find anything noteworthy. We kept patrolling the area for several hours while it was getting darker and darker. Ultimately, we didn\u2019t find any vessel and therefore have no information what happened to the people on the boat in distress we had been alerted about.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n We spent about one week in that area without carrying out any rescue operations. All alerts we received were in locations which were too far away and impossible to reach before the so-called Libyan Coast Guard intervened.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In the morning of 13 April, Sea-Watch’s Seabird spotted people on an overcrowded rubber boat in distress. It was very close to our position, and we reached it within a few hours. The engine was broken and the tubes were already deflated, so the people needed immediate help. After carefully assessing the situation, we took everyone aboard NADIR.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/resqship.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2026_04_13_RESQSHIP_OP2_EricaVarone_09.jpg” alt=”Einsatz 2\/26 Schlauchboot mit Menschen auf dem Meer und Beiboot” title_text=”2026_04_13_RESQSHIP_OP2_EricaVarone_09″ admin_label=”Bild” _builder_version=”4.27.9″ _module_preset=”default” width=”auto” width_tablet=”auto” width_phone=”auto” width_last_edited=”on|desktop” height=”auto” height_tablet=”auto” height_phone=”auto” height_last_edited=”on|phone” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text admin_label=”While our operation was still ongoing” _builder_version=”4.27.9″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n While our operation was still ongoing and <\/span>j<\/span>ust after we finished bringing <\/span>all<\/span> people<\/span> on board, <\/span>a patrol boat <\/span>of<\/span> the so-called Libyan <\/span>C<\/span>oast <\/span>G<\/span>uard <\/span>approach<\/span>ing<\/span> us<\/span> at full speed. <\/span>Whilst our tender was still in the water, t<\/span>hey came alongside <\/span>NADIR<\/span> as<\/span> we had already started moving again. Luckily, <\/span>the s<\/span>hip under Libyan flag<\/span> didn\u2019t<\/span> try to <\/span>hinder<\/span> us<\/span> on our way<\/span>, and after a while they left. The following morning, we <\/span>were finally able to <\/span>to<\/span> bring<\/span> all 53 <\/span>survivors<\/span> to<\/span> the <\/span>assigned <\/span>port of <\/span>safety<\/span>,<\/span><\/span> Lampedusa.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/resqship.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2026_04_13_RESQSHIP_OP2_EricaVarone_093.jpg” alt=”The NADIR in the port of Lampedusa.” title_text=”2026_04_13_RESQSHIP_OP2_EricaVarone_093″ admin_label=”Bild” _builder_version=”4.27.9″ _module_preset=”default” width=”auto” width_tablet=”auto” width_phone=”auto” width_last_edited=”on|desktop” height=”auto” height_tablet=”auto” height_phone=”auto” height_last_edited=”on|phone” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text admin_label=”strong emotions” _builder_version=”4.27.9″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n It was still dark in the early hours of 20 April, when we reached a small boat with engine failure, following an alert from AlarmPhone. After contacting the authorities, we started transferring 27 people onto NADIR. Among them were many unaccompanied minors \u2013 the youngest just 11 years old. As soon as he got onto the tender, he burst into tears, a release of emotion after days of fear and horrors at sea followed by the relief of finally being rescued.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/resqship.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2026_04_RESQSHIP_OP2_Case1_Disembarkation_Merle-Dammhayn_04.jpg” alt=”The NADIR in the port of Lampedusa.” title_text=”2026_04_RESQSHIP_OP2_Case1_Disembarkation_Merle Dammhayn_04″ admin_label=”Bild” _builder_version=”4.27.9″ _module_preset=”default” width=”auto” width_tablet=”auto” width_phone=”auto” width_last_edited=”on|desktop” height=”auto” height_tablet=”auto” height_phone=”auto” height_last_edited=”on|phone” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text admin_label=”After the disembarkation of” _builder_version=”4.27.9″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n After the disembarkation of the 27 people in Lampedusa, we immediately headed back to the central Mediterranean. Only a few hours after our return, in the night between 21 and 22 April, a sudden sequence of events unfolded, in which we assisted 90 people in three different cases.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It all started late on 21 April 21, when we spotted 47 people on the abandoned Didon oil platform. Patrolling the area, we reached the platform around 11 p.m. We used our lights to illuminate the completely dark platform. And then we saw them: People on every level of the structure trying to get our attention.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n We prepared to launch the tender to check their condition, when two patrol boats from the so-called Libyan Coast Guard came alongside us. Their intentions were unclear \u2013 they circled around us with no lights and no communication. The tender crew had already started transferring the people from the platform onto NADIR, including a pregnant woman and many unaccompanied minors. The Libyan vessel didn\u2019t seem to want to intervene, but we positioned NADIR shielding the scene to protect the tender operation.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/resqship.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2026_04_21-22_RESQSHIP_OP2_Didon_EricaVarone_08.jpg” alt=”The NADIR in the port of Lampedusa.” title_text=”2026_04_21-22_RESQSHIP_OP2_Didon_EricaVarone_08″ admin_label=”Bild” _builder_version=”4.27.9″ _module_preset=”default” width=”auto” width_tablet=”auto” width_phone=”auto” width_last_edited=”on|desktop” height=”auto” height_tablet=”auto” height_phone=”auto” height_last_edited=”on|phone” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text admin_label=”After the disembarkation of” _builder_version=”4.27.9″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n The people had reached the platform 10 hours earlier after their engine had started failing \u2013 with no food, no water, and no protection from the cold, the wind and the humidity at sea.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n Right after finishing this operation, we received another alert from AlarmPhone about another boat in distress: 24 people on a wooden boat. We coordinated with the Tunisian authorities and responded. In the distance, we spotted very faint lights that turned out to be phone flashlights of the people aboard the wooden boat.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Once on scene, another boat came alongside us: another boat in distress, unseaworthy and no longer able to safely navigate. They screamed for help, so we started handing out life jackets. Then we brought all survivors from both boats on NADIR. Once again, the whole evacuation was observed by the so-called Libyan Coast Guard, who \u2013 fortunately \u2013 did not interfere.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n By the early hours of the morning, we had 90 people aboard NADIR, including many children and people with limited mobility. After a long navigation to a place of safety, we arrived in Lampedusa on the evening of 22 April.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/resqship.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2026_04_21-22_RESQSHIP_OP2_Didon_EricaVarone_033.jpg” alt=”Einsatz Didonplattform” title_text=”2026_04_21-22_RESQSHIP_OP2_Didon_EricaVarone_033″ admin_label=”Bild” _builder_version=”4.27.9″ _module_preset=”default” width=”auto” width_tablet=”auto” width_phone=”auto” width_last_edited=”on|desktop” height=”auto” height_tablet=”auto” height_phone=”auto” height_last_edited=”on|phone” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text admin_label=”Bildrechte” _builder_version=”4.27.9″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Operation Report 2, 2026 (4 April\u201325 April, 2026) written by crew member Erica Varone<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Credits: Erica Varone, Merle Dammhayn | RESQSHIP<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" During NADIR\u2019s second operation in 2026, our crew witnesses how close horrors and relief lie together For the second operation in 2026, NADIR\u2019s crew departed from Malta on 5 April, after finishing operational briefings and stocking supplies on board. The following morning NADIR and its crew arrived off the coast of Lampedusa to carry out […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":24931,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[305],"tags":[466,430,467,428,468,469,503,489,457,458,470,311,459,471,460,461,472,308,427,473,462,474,401,475,402],"class_list":["post-24921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mission-reports","tag-beobachtungsmission","tag-boote-en","tag-drohnen","tag-einsatzbericht-en","tag-eisenboot","tag-flucht-mittelmeer","tag-humanitare-hilfe","tag-humanitarian-aid","tag-iron-boat-en","tag-italian-coast-guard-en","tag-italienische-kuestenwache","tag-lampedusa-en","tag-libyan-coast-guard-en","tag-libysche-kuestenwache","tag-missing-mediterranean-sea-en","tag-mission-report-en-2","tag-missionsbericht","tag-nadir-en","tag-not-evakuierung-en","tag-notfaelle","tag-observation-mission-en","tag-schlauchboot","tag-seenotrettung-en","tag-vermisste-mittelmeer","tag-zentrales-mittelmeer-en"],"yoast_head":"\nPatrolling the empty seas\u00a0\u00a0<\/h5>\n
Evacuation with so-called Libyan Coast Guards\u00a0<\/h5>\n
Strong emotions\u00a0<\/h5>\n
Evacuation from abandoned oil platform\u00a0\u00a0<\/h5>\n
Three-fold operation\u00a0<\/h5>\n