Sea-Eye is a German non-governmental organization headquartered in

Regensburg Regensburg (historically known in English as Ratisbon) is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the rivers Danube, Naab and Regen (river), Regen, Danube's northernmost point. It is the capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the ...

. It participates in the rescue of migrants in distress in the Mediterranean, in particular by having chartered the ships '' Sea-Eye'' and '' Seefuchs/ Sea Fox'' until August 2017, then the '' Alan Kurdi'' (named in memory of the young Syrian found drowned on a Turkish beach in 2015) and from August 2020 to 2025 the '' Sea-Eye 4''. In June 2021, Sea-Eye received honorary citizenship from the mayor of

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

. In 2024, together with , Sea-Eye bought the ''NIS RANDERS'', a former German Sea Rescue Society boat, which they now operate in the Mediterranean as '' Sea-Eye 5''.

Operations

On 3 April 2019, the ''Alan Kurdi'', warned after a call to the emergency number of the (German) Watch the Mediterranean Sea association, rescued 64 migrants (including twelve women and two children aged one and six) off the

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 ...

n coast;

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 ...

and

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 ...

initially refused berthing but after ten days of waiting at sea, the migrants were finally permitted to disembark at the port of

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 ...

and were divided between

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 ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

(twenty of them),

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

and

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 ...

. On 5 July 2019, off the coast of

, ''Sea Eye'' rescued 65 migrants from drowning. On 7 July 2019 65 migrants were disembarked from ''Alan Kurdi'' in

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

. On 4 August 2019 ''Alan Kurdi'' disembarked forty migrants in

. In 2025 the operation of Sea-Eye 4 was deemed economically no longer viable under the Piantedosi-rules and it was handed over to " Mediterranea". On 15 June 2025 the activists picked up 65 migrants some 50 miles off the Libyan coast. The ''Sea-Eye 5'' requested a harbor from Italian authorities to disembark the migrants, some of whom were in need of medical assistance. The ship was directed to

Pozzallo Pozzallo () is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Ragusa, Sicily, southern Italy. Pozzallo is now a major summer tourist destination: as of March 2020, two beaches in Pozzallo hold a Blue Flag award, presented by the FEE and given to ...

in Sicily to hand over the injured migrants and then to proceed to

Taranto Taranto (; ; previously called Tarent in English) is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Taranto, serving as an important commercial port as well as the main Italian naval base. Founded by Spartans ...

for the rest.. The crew decided that Taranto was too far away, and they did not want to

triage In medicine, triage (, ; ) is a process by which care providers such as Health professional, medical professionals and those with first aid knowledge determine the order of priority for providing treatment to injured individuals and/or inform th ...

the migrants, so they headed to Pozzallo with all migrants instead, where the ship was impounded for disobeying orders..

References

Sea rescue organizations European migrant crisis Immigrant rights activism Humanitarian aid organizations in Europe Refugee aid organizations in Europe {{Germany-org-stub