Saudi Arabia urges stronger global action to protect children in cyberspace at UN    911 emergency centers handle over 2.8 million calls in March    Musk's X is suing India, as Tesla and Starlink plan entry    Tesla sales plunge after backlash against Elon Musk    Saudi Arabia posts SR49.8 billion travel surplus in 2024 as visitor spending hits SR153.6 billion    World leaders call Trump tariffs 'wrong' and 'unjustified'    Israel announces expansion of military operation in Gaza to seize 'large areas' of land    US cancels visa of Nobel Peace Prize winner Oscar Arias    Danish prime minister refutes US claim on Greenland on visit to the Arctic territory    Aubameyang fires Al Qadsiah into King's Cup final with stoppage-time winner over Al Raed    Cristiano Ronaldo joins Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves    Saudi Arabia welcomes trilateral border treaty between Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan    Swedish table tennis legend Jörgen Persson appointed head coach of Saudi national team    Danilo Pereira fires Al Ittihad into King's Cup final with dramatic stoppage-time double    Tebuk emir reviews rain response in Tayma    Saudi Arabia considers rent cap as part of major real estate reforms    Screen time in bed linked to insomnia, study finds    Mexico bans junk food in schools to fight childhood obesity epidemic    Sweet sales surge ahead of Eid as Saudi chocolate imports top 123 million kg in 2024    Saudi creatives shine at Jeddah's Fawanees Nights with art, fashion, and storytelling    Bollywood actress vindicated over boyfriend's death after media hounding    Grand Mufti rules against posting prayers and preaching in mosques on social media    King Salman prays for peace and stability for Palestinians in Ramadan message King reaffirms Saudi Arabia's commitment to serving the Two Holy Mosques and pilgrims    Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan 'out of danger' after attack at home in Mumbai    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



A day in the life of the Med's migrant lifesavers
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 26 - 05 - 2016

The sun beats down on a flat sea as a gentle breeze blows up from the Libyan coast but the Mediterranean idyll is soon to be shattered for the crew of migrant rescue ship the MS Aquarius.
Just after dawn the first call sounds around the bridge: an overcrowded dinghy is in difficulty 90 minutes away and the one-time German coastguard patrol boat is being sent to its aid.
"We are going to take on a full load today," predicts Alexander Moroz, the Belarusian captain of the vessel chartered by the charities SOS Mediterranee and Doctors Without Borders (MSF) to help the international search and rescue operation in the waters between Italy and Libya.
The skipper's instinct proved right: Tuesday was a busy day. The Aquarius was one of 23 vessels deployed to help stricken migrant boats and by nightfall the Italian coastguard had counted 3,000 people rescued, bringing the total to 5,600 over the course of 48 hours.
On the bridge, SOS Mediterranee's rescue team get ready for action.
Deployed since the end of February, the ship has already saved more than 1,000 lives but the crews rotate for missions of three to six weeks and many of those on board are here for the first time.
"You can never have enough experience to be ready for everything, and everyone has to start somewhere," says Christian Bahlke, the mission chief.
An experienced 59-year-old seaman, Bahlke has found a way of combining that experience with his desire to do something in response to the migrant drama.
Just after 10:00am the crew gets a first glimpse of the boat they have been sent to help, a tiny sliver of white on a horizon of a vast expanse of blue.
Another boat has already distributed life jackets and provided first aid to a seriously sick infant, a two-year-old boy from Cameroon who has had no adequate nutrition for three weeks and is suffering from dehydration and a lung infection that is causing the MSF doctors concern.
Soon the Aquarius's lifeboat returns from its first sortie with 15 other children, some of them very young.
They are taken to a room reserved for minors where staff attempt to comfort and calm them as they wait for their mothers, who will be the priority for the lifeboat's next shuttle.
The barefoot women arrive looking exhausted, a little dazed as they are taken onboard. One greets everyone with a relaxed, happy air, another cries in silence.
The men are the last to be brought to safety, some of them very weak. They have to be found places on the bridge.
Franck Kameni, a 29-year-old from Cameroon, cuddles his 11-month-old son Josue. In a few words he recounts the ordeal they have endured -- being forced from place to place at the hands of people traffickers over the course of several months in Libya.
"Here there is life. Finally we are men again," he says before being interrupted by the roar of an Italian navy helicopter sent to evacuate the sickest boy.
His condition is now critical. Strapped to a stretcher and hooked up to a portable drip, the child is bound for the medical unit on board the Italian aircraft carrier Cavour.
A little later the helicopter returns to pick up the infant's mother and a weary calm descends on the Aquarius. Crushed by exhaustion, the migrants crash out wherever they can find a space.
Italian midwife Angelina Perri checks on the children. Mary Jo Frawley, a Californian nurse, dishes out tablets for sea sickness.
Like many of the MSF team, both women have already spent time in crisis zones from Sudan to Nepal via the Ebola clinics of West Africa.
On the bridge, the captain is firing up the engine. The Aquarius has got new instructions from the coastguard control centre in Rome: pick up migrants saved in the morning by a tug boat from an offshore oil rig.
As the day has progressed, the sea has picked up and now the little tug is being buffeted around and getting the lifeboat near it is a complex job, fraught with danger. The transfer will take hours.
Once again there are many women and children among the rescued. All of them from West Africa or the Horn of Africa. All of them physically and mentally close to collapse.
The Aquarius crew are sweating like never before: by 7:30 pm there are 385 passengers on board, the biggest human cargo the boat has ever collected.
"We're full up," the captain tells the Coastguard and soon a new map is up on one of his screens showing the route to the Sardinian port of Cagliari.
The destination allocated from Rome is two days away: for the men, women and children on board, two days to a new life.


Clic here to read the story from its source.