Federica Mameli

Sea-Watch is an old blue fishing boat from 1917, built for shrimp fishing in the North Sea and later used as a houseboat in the Dutch canals. Today, with its nearly 100 years, the boat travels with a speed of 7 knots — the equivalent of a brisk walk — waving a German flag.

Thanks to the extraordinary idea of Harald Höppner, a brave entrepreneur from Berlin, Sea-Watch patrols the Mediterranean waters south of Sicily. Tired of seeing images of corpses floating in the sea, Harald, 42 year old father of three children, began taking action with the ease of rare man who can do great things. 

On the 19th of April he took part in one of the most popular live talk shows on German television. Bored by the usual, sterile arguments on the subject of migration, he stood up and requested one minute of silence for those who died in the sea, ignoring the disapproval of the show’s famous host, Guenter Jauch.

The footage, evidencing his two meter stature, became viral almost immediately and enabled him to collect many donations. With these proceeds, he bought the boat, and equipped it with a satellite receiver, equipment indispensable for the interception of boats, and first aid material.
Sea-Watch arrived in Lampedusa from the port of Hamburg last June and spent the summer with its onboard team of volunteer doctors, ship engineers, captains, and experienced sailors. They sailed the waters north of Tripoli (the area where the boats are most often drifting) to search for migrants in distress. To date, they have rescued more than 2,000 refugees.

The Mediterranean voyage is considered to be the most dangerous amongst the various migration routes.
The total number of migrant deaths on Mediterranean sea routes to Europe have surpassed 3,329 in the first ten months of 2015.
Over 30,000 refugees died in their attempt to reach or stay in Europe since 2000.