Recue Ship Saves 32 People Stranded For Days On Oil Platform Without Food Or Water

A humanitarian recue ship has saved 32 migrants, including women, men and children who were stranded for four days on an oil platform off Tunisia’s coast without food or water.

The group was attempting to cross the Mediterranean but ended up on the gas platform after their rubber dinghy capsised. One migrant had already died before help arrived.

The non-governmental organisation (NGO) Sea-Watch carried out the rescue mission on Tuesday using its fast-response ship, Aurora.

However, the final destination of the vessel is still unclear as no country has yet allowed it to dock in a safe port.

According to Mediterranea, a migrant rescue charity, the group was shipwrecked without any supplies and had been left ex-posed to harsh weather conditions.

Per reports, the dinghy went adrift while attempting to flee Libya, forcing them to climb onto the Miskar gas platform in the Mediterranean.

A Sea-Watch reconnaissance aircraft, Seabird, first spotted the empty rubber dinghy near the platform on March 1, 2025. The stranded migrants later managed to contact Alarm Phone, an emergency hotline for people in distress at sea.

They pleaded for help, saying they had been without food for days and were in a critical condition. They also confirmed the death of one person from their group.

A video, filmed by one of the stranded individuals, was shared by humanitarian organisations on social media. In the footage, a young man, speaking in Tigrinya-a language spoken in Ethiopia and Eritrea-described the desperate situation.

He said that after five days at sea, the survivors were now starving and freezing on the platform, warning that if help did not arrive soon, they would die.

Despite the imminent danger, no European country intervened to assist, even though the migrants were stranded in international waters on the border of the Tunisian and Maltese search and rescue (SAR) zones.

Sea-Watch stated that it had alerted the authorities but no action was taken before their ship Aurora arrived for the rescue.

The NGO confirmed that all 32 migrants were now safely aboard Aurora, and are receiving necessary medical attention and care from the crew.

However, Sea-Watch is concerned over the fact that no country had yet provided a safe port for the rescued individuals.

Human right organisations have criticised European governments for their handling of migration crises. Despite the urgent situation, no EU country came forward to provide assistance.

Recent agreements between European nations, Tunisia, and Libya allow authorities in North Africa to intercept and return migrants who attempt to cross the Mediterranean.

The Central Mediterranean remains one of the deadliest migration routes. According to United Nations data, more than 210,000 people attempted the crossing in 2023.

Out of these, over 60,000 were intercepted and sent back to African shores, while nearly 2,000 lost their lives at sea.

References: BBC, Reuters

Source: Maritime Shipping News