Migrants Rescued After Seeking Shelter on Mediterranean Oil Platform

A group of migrants was rescued after spending four days on a Mediterranean gas platform. One of the NGOs active in the region, the Berlin-based Sea-Watch, finally intervened and with permission from Italy landed 32 survivors and one deceased individual. It was the second incident with the same platform in the past three years.

The drama began on Saturday, March 1 when the NGO’s patrol aircraft Seabird which monitors the flow of migrants in the Mediterranean reported it had spotted an empty launch near the Miskar gas platform which is located approximately 75 miles from the Tunisian coast. The gas field is one of the older ones in operation having been started by Shell in 1975.

After the rubber raft with an outboard motor was discovered, the migrants were able to make contact with Alert Phone an emergency service in the region which then issued a notice to the authorities. According to the information from the group which appeared to be from Ethiopia and Eritrea the boat had capsized in the Mediterranean but they were able to make it to the platform. They said they had been at sea for five days and now had no food or water and were cold as there was no indoor shelter available on the platform.

 

Migrants on the lower platform signalling to one of the aircraft that were dispatch to confirm the situation (Sea-Watch)

 

The operator Miskar reported the situation and the European Coast Guard Fonex reportedly confirmed the presence of the migrants on the platform. They issued an alert to Malta, Italy, and Tunisia as the platform sits at the edge between the SAR areas maintained by Tunisia and Malta.

Sea-Watch says the Tunisian navy was going to go to the platform and reported it would remove the people on Sunday. However, no help arrived. The NGO says Italy and Malta did not respond to the situation.

The NGO’s vessel Aurora was dispatched and finally reached the platform on March 4. It found the people cold and hungry huddled on the walkways of the platform. They were taken aboard the Aurora and given initial attention.

Italy ordered the Aurora to the port of Lampedusa where it arrived today, March 5. The people were offloaded while the NGOs highlighted it as another example of neglect by the authorities which failed to rescue the people.

The Miskar platform was also the center of a 2022 controversy when several NGOs accused Shell and Malta of not responding to another group of migrants that also took shelter on the platform. In that case, the NGOs were unable to rescue the people who were removed by the Tunisian navy and returned to Africa.