Navigating maritime law, politics and profits
For over a decade, the Civil Fleet has operated in the Central Mediterranean, monitoring Europe’s deadly border regime and facilitating or carrying out rescues at sea. Merchant vessels have also played an important role in many distress situations. They are contacted either by Alarm Phone or by coastguards to search for boats in distress, take people on board, provide food, water, and fuel, or shelter boats from wind and waves until further assistance arrives.
At times, however, merchant vessels fail to provide assistance, acting only when instructed to do so by local authorities. In some cases, authorities even order them to not carry out rescues. Sometimes merchant vessels comply with maritime law and disembark rescued people in safe ports; at other times, they deliver them to places known to be unsafe. Merchant vessels thus reflect the broader power struggles at sea, where deadly border enforcement clashes daily with basic solidarity.
Drawing on long-term data collected since 2019 by the Civil MRCC, this article presents a brief analysis of cases involving merchant vessels.
Merchant vessels in distress cases: A statistical overview
The following table (Table 1) presents yearly data on the total number of distress cases, the number of cases involving merchant vessels (MerV), and the corresponding percentage. It shows that the proportion of cases involving merchant vessels has remained relatively stable, ranging between 2% and 6%, although it has generally declined since 2020. This decrease may reflect a reaction from the maritime shipping industry, as diverting routes to carry out rescues can cause delays and financial losses for merchant vessels. Some shipping companies may therefore choose alternative routes in order to avoid encountering boats in distress.
Table 1 : number of distress cases, number of Merchant vessels (MerV) cases and corresponding percentage, on a yearly basis.
The label “arrived” indicates autonomous arrivals, in opposition to rescues. “empty boat” indicates that we have no information about the people in distress but that an empty boat was reported.
Figure 2 illustrates the distribution of outcomes in cases involving merchant vessels. The most common outcome is rescue leading to disembarkation in the EU, which maritime law defines as disembarkation in a “place of safety” (in this context, a European port). The second most common outcome is interception, resulting in people being returned to the country where they departed from.
As the figure shows, more than half of all merchant vessel cases end in rescue, most likely because the majority occur within the Maltese or Italian Search and Rescue (SAR) zones, where the chances of being disembarked in a EU country are higher.
AFM : Armed Forces of Malta, HCG : Hellenic (Greek) Coast-Guard, EG : Egypt.
Figure 3 shows the outcomes of all cases involving merchant vessels, together with their respective counts. Most rescues are carried out either by the Italian Coast Guard or by the merchant vessels themselves. Most interceptions (which are illegal under international law) are conducted either by the so-called Libyan Coast Guard or by the merchant vessels themselves, although it is often unclear which Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) was responsible for coordinating the operation.
Between solidarity and border violence
The data shows that merchant vessels remain important actors in rescue operations in the Central Mediterranean, although their involvement appears to be decreasing. These cases also reveal the difficult position of merchant crews, who are caught between their legal duty to assist people in distress at sea and the growing pressure of state border enforcement policies.
While international maritime law requires rescue and disembarkation in a place of safety, Mediterranean border practices often undermine these obligations through conflicting instructions, political pressure, and cooperation with actors involved in illegal interceptions and returns.
These experiences highlight a fundamental tension between solidarity and deterrence, and between legal obligations and political interests. Despite this, many seafarers continue to prioritise saving lives at sea.
Civil MRCC documentation team
” Dear Seafarers [..]
In the Mediterranean Sea, as well as in the Atlantic and the English Channel, you often rescue refugees who are in distress. Sometimes the boats are small, and sometimes they are very big, and they are almost always overcrowded. We have seen how you carry out these rescues no matter the weather conditions, even though when the waves are high it is dangerous for you as well.
We know that when you provide help your vessel becomes delayed, meaning there is more stress and harder work for you in the next port. But your hearts are wide, and you don’t want to pass by when brothers, sisters and their children are close to drowning.
Today we want to say: we see you! We will never forget every one of you who did what they could to stand by the side of the people in distress.
May you have always a safe journey – and may we all see the day where you never have to rescue refugees again, where we live in a world where freedom of movement is everybody’s right.”
Alarm Phone’s 2024 message “Dear Seafarers”, expressing gratitude to seafarers involved in rescue operations at sea.
