Troubled Waters

March 3rd 2017, 2AM. After several false alarms due to scarce visibility, a wooden boat in distress is spotted by the search light of the Aquarius a few miles off the coast of Libya.

September 10th 2016. The Captain of the Aquarius chart the course of the vessel on a nautical map of Northern Africa.

March 3rd 2017, 2AM. After several false alarms due to scarce visibility, a wooden boat in distress is spotted by the search light of the Aquarius a few miles off the coast of Libya.

February 28th 2017. At night, the Aquarius' Chief Mate scan the radar in search for boats in distress.

March 3rd 2017, 2AM. After several false alarms due to scarce visibility, a wooden boat in distress is spotted by the search light of the Aquarius a few miles off the coast of Libya.

Three of the migrants on board were in advanced state of hypothermia.

The Aquarius' SAR Team proceeds with the rescue of the wooden boat in distress spotted just before 2AM on March 3rd 2017 a few miles off the coast of Libya.

Sep 5th 2016. In the early morning, a rubber boat in distress is spotted by the rescue vessel Aquarius a few miles off the coast of Libya.

February 22nd 2017. At sunrise, a member of SOS Méditerranée's SAR Team scan the horizon in search for boats in distress.

February 22nd 2017, 1PM. A rubber boat in distress is found a few miles off the coast of Libya.

The Aquarius' SAR Team proceeds with the rescue of a rubber boat in distress spotted on February 22nd 2017 a few miles off the coast of Libya.

September 11th 2016, Mediterranean Sea, a few miles off the coasts of Libya. Life jackets are distribute by the Aquarius' SAR Team to the 120 people on board a rubber boat in distress spotted a few miles off the coast of Libya.

Sep 11th 2016. Three women on board the rescue rhib that will transfer them to the Aquarius, just after being rescued from a rubber boat in distress.

The Aquarius' SAR Team rescues a rubber boat in distress spotted on February 22nd 2017 a few miles off the coast of Libya.

March 2nd 2017. Young men just rescued by the Aquarius' SAR Team are on board the rhib that will take them to the Aquarius.

A rusty compass found on a rubber boat rescued on February 22nd 2017 by the Aquarius' SAR Team.

Unlike just few months ago, smugglers don't provide migrants with any navigations system or satellite phone for emergency calls anymore.

Abandoned to themselves at open sea, their only chance for survival is being rescued in international waters.

Sep 4th 2016, Mediterranean Sea, a few miles off the coasts of Libya, A view of the rescue vessel Aquarius, operated by the NGOs SOS Méditerranée and Médicins Sans Frontières (MSF).

Since the beginning of its mission (February 2016) to the end of 2016 the Aquarius rescued more than 8,000 people.

September 11 2016. Migrants on board the Aquarius vessel just after the rescue operations.

A portrait of Kelvin Eguavoen (25, from Nigeria), rescued by the Aquarius' SAR Team from a rubber boat in distress on September 11th 2016.

Sep 5th 2016. Migrants on board the rescue vessel Aquarius just after having been rescued from a rubber boat in distress.

February 22nd 2017. A Médicins Sans Frontières' nurse helps a migrant suffering from hypothermia to reach the vessel's clinic. Moments before he was rescued from a rubber boat in distress.

February 23rd 2017. A man, rescued from a rubber boat in distress the day before, is visited by Médicins Sans Frontières' personnel inside the Aquarius' clinic.
Many testimonies collected on board the Aquarius report of an increasing level of violence in Libya, often translating into abductions, extortions, torture, forced labour and rape inflicted to migrants prior their departure towards Europe.

On board the Aquarius, a portrait of a 17-year-old migrant from Libya who preferred to remain anonymous.

“My parents were killed for being supporters of Ghedaffi and then a militia came after me. So I fled.

I don’t care where I am going, I just want to stay alive," he said.

On board the Aquarius, Zen, an 18-year-old Ghanaian, said that he was kidnapped after arriving in Libya and was told that he was being sold but could buy his freedom.

“To make sure I would get money from home, I was told they [the smugglers] had people in west Africa and I was put in touch with a Ghanaian woman who was their agent” he said.

A portrait of Anabel Montes Mier (29, from Spain), SOS Méditerranée’s Deputy Search And Rescue Coordinator on board the Aquarius.
"The fact that I didn't stayed with my arms crossed watching this tragedy unfold makes me feel useful, but I can't feel good. After rescuing people we spend two days on board with them... and when you hear their stories you can't feel good,” she said.

Sep 13th 2016. On September 13th 2016, when land is first spotted from the rescue vessel Aquarius after 2 days of sailing, a group of young Nigerian women celebrate singing and dancing.

A young girl rescued on February 22nd 2017 from a rubber boat in distress plays with a phone on board the Aquarius.

Sep 13th 2016. Inside the so-called 'shelter', the area of the Aquarius reserved for women and children.

On February 23rd 2017, at sunrise, a young migrant observes the sea from the Aquarius.

September 13th 2016. Evening Muslim prayer on board the vessel Aquarius, the night before disembarkation in Italy.

February 22nd 2017. Migrants squeezed togheter sleep on board the Aquarius.

Due to the low winter temperatures, the Aquarius crew provides them with orange survival bags that keep their bodies warm and sheltered from the wind.

February 24th 2017. At sunrise, a group of migrants observe the coast of Trapani, Sicily, from the Aquarius. They will disembark moments after.

A group of migrants rescued by the Aquarius' SAR Team on February 22nd 2017, photographed the day before their disembarkation in Italy.