The Phoenix is a ship built by Davie Shipbuilding in Lévis, Quebec and launched as the trawler GC Bassin in 1973. Since then, her roles have included a research vessel and a training ship, before her current use by the Migrant Offshore Aid Station as a rescue vessel, rescuing people in distress at the Mediterranean Sea.
Background
The Phoenix was built by Davie Shipbuilding in Lévis, Quebec and launched as the trawler GC Bassin in 1973. Subsequently, she was given to Gorden-Pew fisheries.[1][4] In 2002, she was renamed as NSS Pattam, before being given her current name in 2007.[1] She has been previously used as a research vessel and training ship, before her current use as a rescue vessel.[3]
Migrant Offshore Aid Station
On 25 August 2014, the NGO Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) launched the Phoenix as a support vessel to aid vessels in distress in the Mediterranean Sea.[3][5] Her inaugural mission continued until October 2014.[6]
The Phoenix is based in Malta and funded by Christopher and Regina Catrambone, who were inspired by an appeal from Pope Francis and the Lampedusa shipwrecks in October 2013.[7] She is equipped with two Schiebel Camcopter S-100 unmanned aerial vehicles, dinghies and other life-saving equipment together with paramedics with the aim of saving migrants, refugees and other people in distress at sea.[3][7]
First operation: 2014
Her inaugural mission lasted from 25 August 2014 until October 2014.[6] During her first mission, The ship responded to requests from local rescue coordination centres while cruising the Mediterranean.[7] The running cost of the first mission was €2 million, the extent of the funder's budget.[3]
On 4 October 2014, while en route to Pozzallo, Sicily the Phoenix rescued 106 migrants in a rubber dinghy.[8]
On 19 October 2014, the Phoenix rescued 97 African migrants from the Gambia, Senegal, Guinea Bissau, Niger, Mali, Sierra Leone and Benin who had been at sea for 12 hours, after receiving direction from rescue coordination centre in Rome.[9]
On 20 October 2014, the Phoenix rescued 274 migrants, including 200 Syrians and Pakistanis from a 15-metre wooden boat off the coast of Italy.[10][11]
The MOAS has helped to save 3,000 migrants during its first mission.[12]
Second operation: 2015
The Phoenix and MOAS returned to the Mediterranean in 2015, rescuing and helping 8,581 people crossing from Libya to Italy.[13]
Third operation and beyond
The Phoenix continued rescue operations in 2016, assisted by a second MOAS-operated ship, the Topaz Responder. Together MOAS helped to rescue 19,450 people.[14] In 2017, the Phoenix, assisted by a fixed-wing aircraft supported the rescue of 7,286 people.[14] After August 2017, MOAS focussed its resources and the Phoenix on the Rohingya refugee crisis,[15][16] and Mediterranean operations were integrated into the Italian Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre, Rome.[14]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e "PHOENIX 1 - IMO 7234272". www.shipspotting.com. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Phoenix - Yacht". www.marinetraffic.com. Archived from the original on 5 November 2014. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f Cacciottolo, Mario (29 August 2014). "The millionaires who rescue people at sea". BBC. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
- ^ Geistdoerfer, Aliette (1987). Pêcheurs acadiens, pêcheurs madelinots: ethnologie d'une communauté de pêcheurs (in French). Presses Université Laval. p. 319.
- ^ "Our Mission". www.moas.eu. Archived from the original on 7 November 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
- ^ a b Vassallo, Raphael. "No one deserves to die at sea | Martin Xuereb". Malta Today. MediaToday Co. Ltd. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
- ^ a b c Micallef, Mark (23 July 2014). "Benefactor couple fund first ever private migrant rescue at sea mission". Times of Malta. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
- ^ Zammit Lupi, Darrin (16 October 2014). "A rescue at sea". widerimage.reuters.com. Reuters. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
- ^ "salvatagg iehor ta immigranti minn organizazzjoni privata" (in Maltese). Television Malta. 19 October 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
- ^ Collins, Gail (23 October 2014). "Gambia: Back Way to Europe - Is It a Risk Worth Taking?". The Point. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
- ^ Laursen, Wendy. "Desperate Migrants Pay Extra for Life Jackets". www.maritime-executive.com/. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
- ^ "The family that saved 3,000 lives". BBC News Magazine Monitor. BBC. 10 November 2014. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
- ^ "Central Mediterranean". MOAS. Retrieved 3 February 2025.
- ^ a b c "Central Mediterranean". MOAS. Retrieved 3 February 2025.
- ^ "Migrant aid group MOAS quits rescue operation in the Mediterranean". The Local Italy. www.thelocal.it. 5 September 2017. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
- ^ "A ship that saved migrants from the Mediterranean has set sail for Asia to rescue Rohingya refugees". The Independent. www.independent.co.uk. 5 September 2017. Retrieved 18 October 2017.