Rubber boat fragment

Since its founding in 2016, SOS MEDITERRANEE has saved more than 43,000 people. Rescue operations often take place in international waters off the coasts of Libya or Tunisia, bringing migrants from various countries to safety.

These fragments of a rubber boat were collected during a rescue operation on the night of May 4 to 5, 2025, while the Director of SOS MEDITERRANEE, Valeria Taurino, was on board the ship. During the two rescue operations, 108 people were brought to safety, including one woman, 25 unaccompanied minors, and an 11-month-old baby girl. The survivors came from several countries, including Bangladesh, Somalia, Pakistan, Egypt, Iran, Eritrea, and Sudan. The team welcomed them, exhausted from the long journey and suffering from seasickness, hypothermia, and fatigue, and provided immediate assistance. Our midwife immediately took care of Zahra, the only young woman on board, and Naima, her 11-month-old daughter.

The stories they shared about the detention conditions they endured for weeks and months, both in the hands of traffickers and in Libyan prisons, were horrifying: they were crammed together like animals, with no possibility to wash, often without even access to a toilet, and with wounds from beatings and torture left untreated and prone to infection. Scabies was among the least severe of their afflictions.

On the deck of the Ocean Viking, little Naima took her first unsteady steps. With her innocence, she smiled at everyone and quickly became the ship’s mascot. She was a burst of energy, life, sweetness, and carefree joy, despite everything.

At dawn on May 9, the 108 survivors finally arrived at the port of Ortona, where they said goodbye to the team that had cared for them in the previous days and began a new life.