Our third deployment in 2024 has begun. The crew of six volunteer activists under skipper Matthias has arrived in Licata (Sicily), our ship’s home port. Training with the dinghy in the Licata harbor basin began today and rescue situations are being simulated. In our small house at the foot of Castel Sant’Angelo, we talk about the challenges that await us. Unfortunately, technical problems with the propulsion system forced us into the boatyard at short notice.
Today, the crew of our deployment #3/24 started training in the harbor basin of Licata. With a second inflatable boat, which the sea rescue NGOs in Licata have procured together, we are practising rescue situations that we expect to encounter on the escape route in the Mediterranean. This involves initial communication with people or handing over life jackets until a person is rescued from the water. Our aim is to use the resources on board to stabilize the people on the unseaworthy boats until support arrives from the Italian Coast Guard or a larger rescue ship. In an emergency, we take the people on board the TROTAMAR III.
We will soon be setting off on our third mission this year at the EU’s external borders. We are supporting civilian sea rescue operations in the Mediterranean with our 13m sailing ship. We have enough rescue equipment on board to stabilize up to 200 people. We want to save people fleeing across the Mediterranean from death by drowning or dying of thirst and alleviate their immediate suffering. We document human rights violations and draw attention to the fate of refugees and the humanitarian catastrophe in the Mediterranean.
Because no human being is illegal.
We supported 52 people in distress at sea
Yesterday evening at 8.19 pm. we found a wooden boat with 52 people on board. The engine had stopped working and the boat was unable to maneuver. In the darkness, it quickly became clear that there was an immediate danger of life of the people on board if conditions got only just a bit worse.…
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TROTAMAR III setting sail to search and rescue
Yesterday evening, the TROTAMAR III left the port of Licata in Sicily and set course for the search and rescue zone. On board is a well-prepared crew of six under skipper Matthias and co-skipper Ina. After storms and extreme rainfall, the waves and wind south of Sicily are now manageable and we are now ready…
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SAR Trainings
Today, the crew of the current deployment set sail for the first time totest sail with the Trotamar III. Off the coast ofLicata, they practiced various manoeuvres with the dinghy.We use the dinghy to make contact with people in distress at sea,provide them with life jackets or bring people on board of our ship in…
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Preperations in Licata
Before we set sail, our sailing boat, the Trotamar III, has to be prepared for the deployment. Yesterday, for example, our crew in Sicily installed a fresh water pump, worked on the solar panels and installed a new AIS device (a device for receiving and sending ship data). But it’s not just the technical equipment…
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Our new crew is ready to start!
Toki, Alex, Olli, Friedrich, our skipper Matthias and our co-skipper Ina are going on our ninth and last deployment this year. Over the next few weeks, the six of them will be supporting civilian sea rescue in the Mediterranean Sea on the Trotamar III However, accompanying people on their way to Europe is not something…
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Crew wanted
We are looking for you to join our volunteer crews in 2025!Are you a sailor, technically adept or media-savvy and communicative? Do you have experience as a dinghy driver, medic, from search & rescue deployments or in the field of awareness? Then we are looking for you for one of our deployments next year!As one…
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TROTAMAR III – DISEMBARKATION ON LAMPEDUSA
The crew of the Trotamar III has disembarked all rescued people safely on Lampedusa.Our sailing ship was underway to Lampedusa for almost a day – with 62 people on board, rescued from an unseaworthy rubber boat on Tuesday evening. During the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, the Sea Eye 5 from @seaeye_org was able to…
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TROTAMAR III – 60 PEOPLE ON BOARD
Yesterday the crew of the Trotamar III received a distress call for a boat in the Tunisian Search & Rescue zone and set off in search of the overcrowded rubber boat. At 7pm, the crew found the boat with over 90 people on board. At this point, it was already dark. Water had gotten into…
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TROTAMAR III – TRAINING ON LINOSA
The Trotamar III is anchored off Linosa, where the crew continues to prepare the upcoming deployment. With the dinghy, crew members practise making contact with a migrant vessel, distributing life jackets and rescuing unconscious people.On board the Trotamar III is an extensive range of rescue equipment with which the crew can come to the aid…
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TROTAMAR III SAILING TO LINOSA
The Trotamar III left Licata yesterday to sail towards Linosa, a small island in the north-east of Lampedusa. During the crossing, the crew familiarized themselves with the sailing manoeuvres on board – no easy task in waves up to 1.5 metres high.Yesterday afternoon, the crew arrived in Linosa and anchored in a bay on the…
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