Aquarius (NGO Ship)
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The MV ''Aquarius'', formerly ''Aquarius Dignitus'' and ''Aquarius 2'', is a 1977-built dual-flagged (Germany and Panama) search and rescue vessel, which has been used to rescue
refugees A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...
and migrants stranded in the
Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...
since 2016. It has been chartered and operated since February 2016 by the
NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...
s
SOS Méditerranée ''SOS Méditerranée'' is a European, maritime-humanitarian organisation for the rescue of life at sea, currently operating in the Mediterranean sea in international waters north of Libya. The organization chartered the ''Aquarius (NGO ship), Aqu ...
and
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF; pronounced ), known in some English-speaking settings as Doctors Without Borders, is a charity that provides humanitarian medical care. It is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) of French origin known for its projects in conflict zo ...
(MSF or Doctors without borders) as a rescue vessel for migrants and refugees making the
Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...
crossing in makeshift craft from
Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...
to
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
as part of the
European migrant crisis The 2015 European migrant crisis was a period of significantly increased movement of refugees and Human migration, migrants into Europe, mostly from the Middle East. An estimated 1.3 million people came to the continent to request Right of asyl ...
. The vessel is a converted
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
coast-guard and fishery protection vessel (then named ''Meerkatze'', built in 1977). The ship has a registered capacity to accommodate 25 crew members and usually carries 4 journalists and can carry up to 300 rescued migrants. All of the refugees sleep on the deck, as the vessel does not have beds, cabins or accommodation for refugees. In November 2018, ''The Guardian'' reported that her flag had been revoked by Panama and Liberia, and there was a search for a prospective flag to register under.


History

Completed by
Lürssen Lürssen (or Lürssen Werft) is a German shipyard with headquarters in Bremen-Vegesack and shipbuilding facilities in Lemwerder, Berne and Bremen-Fähr-Lobbendorf. Lürssen designs and constructs yachts, naval ships and special vessels. Tradin ...
in Bremen in 1977, serial ID 13453, the ship was utilised by the German Federal Agency for Agriculture and Nutrition (BLE) unit of the Küstenwache, or the German Federal Coast Guard, as a "''Fischereischutzboot''" or fishery protection vessel. The ship was classified by
Germanischer Lloyd The was a classification society based in Hamburg, Germany. It ceased to exist as an independent entity in September 2013 as a result of its merger with Norway's DNV (Det Norske Veritas) to become DNV GL. Before the merger, as a technical sup ...
as a Class E2
icebreaker An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters, and provide safe waterways for other boats and ships. Although the term usually refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to smaller ...
, employed principally in the central
North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...
and
North Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for ...
, where thanks to its design it proved excellent at navigating through adverse sea conditions. In 2009 it was decommissioned and replaced by the ''Meerkatze II'', previously the research ship ''Anton Dohrn''. It was acquired by
Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...
company RS Research Shipping (now Jasmund Shipping), renamed MV ''Aquarius'' and re-registered under
Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...
port of registry. Here it operated until the end of 2015 as a survey vessel for renewable energy, oil & gas industry, and other offshore projects. On 1 September 2018, the vessel's operators changed the ship's name from ''Aquarius'' to ''Aquarius 2'' and changed its vessel type from "research vessel" to "search and rescue vessel". The ship has been operated and managed by Jasmund shipping GmBH since June 2017, and after a brief interval again since 11 September 2018. Prior to this, the ship was managed by Hempel shipping (2009–2017). The ship has been owned by Aquarius GmBH & Co KG since April 2009. On 16 August 2018, the ship was inspected by the
Port state control Port state control (PSC) is an inspection regime for countries to inspect foreign-registered ships in port other than those of the flag state and take action against ships that are not in compliance. Inspectors for PSC are called PSC officers ( ...
(Pais MoU) at
Valletta Valletta ( ; , ) is the capital city of Malta and one of its 68 Local councils of Malta, council areas. Located between the Grand Harbour to the east and Marsamxett Harbour to the west, its population as of 2021 was 5,157. As Malta’s capital ...
(
Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...
) and five deficiencies were found related to the crew certificates, oil record book and blocked routes of escape.


Operations in Mediterranean Sea

In February 2016 the ship was chartered by humanitarian NGO SOS Méditerranée, to provide open sea rescue and support to migrants crossing the
Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...
to reach the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
. Operating on missions coordinated by Rome's maritime rescue coordination centre, patrolling the waters around Sicily, Lampedusa, and near the Libyan coast, it provided aid to over 10,000 migrants. On 25 May 2016 the ''Aquarius'' returned from its tenth rescue operation, having saved 388 migrants. A
Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...
ian boy was born on board who was subsequently named Alex in honor of the
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
n captain of the ''Aquarius'', Alexander Moroz. In June 2018 the ship, carrying 629 migrants from Sudan and Bangladesh saved from the sea, was denied entry to
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
by its new Interior Minister
Matteo Salvini Matteo Salvini (; born 9 March 1973) is an Italian politician who has been serving as Deputy Prime Minister of Italy and Italian Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Minister of Infrastructure and Transport since 2022. He has been List of F ...
and to Malta as well. The Government of Spain offered the ship the chance to dock in the port of
Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...
, Spain, and the
Italian Navy The Italian Navy (; abbreviated as MM) is one of the four branches of Italian Armed Forces and was formed in 1946 from what remained of the ''Regia Marina'' (Royal Navy) after World War II. , the Italian Navy had a strength of 30,923 active per ...
offered full assistance and a marine escort for the trip. ''Aquarius'' and its migrants arrived at the
Port of Valencia The Port of Valencia is a seaport in Valencia, Spain. In 2021 it was the second busiest port in the Mediterranean by TEU after the port of Tanger Med. As of 2023, it moves an annual cargo traffic of around and 4.8 million TEU. The port is also ...
on 17 June. Half of them opted to claim asylum in France, insofar as France opened the doors to anyone from the ''Aquarius''. In August 2018, Spain refused entry to the vessel carrying 141 migrants from Eritrea and Somalia as Spain is not the closest safe port, as stipulated by international law. They were distributed among France, Germany, Luxembourg, Portugal and Spain. On 20 September 2018 the Aquarius picked up ten
Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
is and a person from the Ivory Coast from a
dinghy A dinghy is a type of small boat, often carried or Towing, towed by a Watercraft, larger vessel for use as a Ship's tender, tender. Utility dinghies are usually rowboats or have an outboard motor. Some are rigged for sailing but they diffe ...
from the Libyan coast and from the closest European shore, the Italian island
Lampedusa Lampedusa ( , , ; ; ) is the largest island of the Italian Pelagie Islands in the Mediterranean Sea. The ''comune'' of Lampedusa e Linosa is part of the Sicilian province of Agrigento which also includes the smaller islands of Linosa and Lamp ...
. The same day the Aquarius asked Italy and Malta permission to disembark the eleven migrants and both countries refused. The migrants were handed over to a coastguard vessel off Malta on 29 September 2018, after European governments had agreed to take the people in. The ''Aquarius 2'' returned to Marseille. In the autumn of 2018, the ship was repeatedly denied entry by Italy was instead forced to land in Malta and Spain. Italy had seen more than 700,000 migrants arrive on its shores in the 2013–2018 period. In December 2018, MSF and SOS Méditerranée announced that they had ceased their operations with the ship due repeated accusations of trafficking in waste and criminal activity, but affirmed their determination to "resume our activities". After this time the SOS Méditerranée continued their work with the ''Ocean Viking''.


Flag

The vessel was flagged under the
flag of convenience Flag of convenience (FOC) refers to a business practice whereby a ship's owners Ship registration, register a Merchant vessel, merchant ship in a ship register of a country other than that of the ship's owners, and the ship flies the civil ens ...
Gibraltar since February 2018. She was registered as a research and survey vessel, which subsequently led to administrative issues. On 6 August 2018 the Gibraltar Maritime Administration issued a "notice of removal" for the Aquarius, because she was registered as a survey vessel, but used as a rescue ship. As a result, the ship was warned that she would be removed from Gibraltar registry. Thence, the ship's operators approached other flags in order to register the ship under them. On 10 August 2018, they applied to register the ship with a Vatican-State flag, but this was denied by Vatican. On 27 August 2018 the ship arrived in
Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...
and its operator MSF announced that the owner had applied for a registration of the vessel in the flag of convenience
Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...
on 20 August. However, on 22 September 2018 the maritime authority of Panama announced that it had initiated procedures to remove the Aquarius from its registry, quoting violations of international law with respect to migrants, rescue at sea and refusing to carry the migrants back to the area where they originated (
UNCLOS The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), also called the Law of the Sea Convention or the Law of the Sea Treaty, is an international treaty that establishes a legal framework for all marine and maritime activities. , 169 sov ...
, SOLAS and SAR convention). The Government of Panama initiated the process based on information received from Italy that the ''Aquarius'' had not followed international regulations and legal proceedings concerning the transport of migrants. Aquarius was specifically accused of not returning the rescued migrants to Libya as required by the SAR convention. In September 2018, the vessel continued to be classed with
Germanischer Lloyd The was a classification society based in Hamburg, Germany. It ceased to exist as an independent entity in September 2013 as a result of its merger with Norway's DNV (Det Norske Veritas) to become DNV GL. Before the merger, as a technical sup ...
and registered with Gibraltar flag as a research / survey vessel. This led to issues with authorities, as a research and survey vessel cannot operate as a passenger vessel unless it reflects these changes in its registry documents. After the ship returned to Marseille in early October 2018 the owner issued a statement about negotiating to obtain a new flag from
Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
,
Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...
or
Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...
. As per Equasis and
IHS maritime IHS may refer to: Religious * Christogram IHS or ΙΗΣ, a monogram symbolizing Jesus Christ * '' In hoc signo'', used by Roman emperor Constantine the Great Organizations * Indian Health Service, an operating division of the US Department of He ...
, on 1 September 2018, the ship changed its name to ''Aquarius 2'' and changed its flag to
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
. As per Equasis and
IHS maritime IHS may refer to: Religious * Christogram IHS or ΙΗΣ, a monogram symbolizing Jesus Christ * '' In hoc signo'', used by Roman emperor Constantine the Great Organizations * Indian Health Service, an operating division of the US Department of He ...
, on 1 November 2018, the ship changed its name to ''Aquarius Dignitus'' and changed its flag to
Liberia Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...
.


References


External links


''Aquarius'' Current position

On board diary of MV Aquarius

SOS Mediterranee - Voices from the sea
{{European migrant crisis Mediterranean Sea Social welfare charities Sea rescue organizations Migrant boat disasters in Europe Fishery protection vessels 1977 ships