“Dear Sirs, We are informing you that at 03:15z at position 33° 14.6 N 012° 29.6 E we assessed the situation with 2 RHIBs: the wooden boat is unseaworthy, overcrowded, with about 50 people on board, no lifejackets all exposed to the elements. The people on board are in danger and I have every reason to believe that the Distress phase exists. The UNCLOS (Article 98) and SOLAS (Chapter V, Regulation 33-1) conventions as well as the IMO Resolution MSC.167 (78) bound me to proceed to the assistance of the people on board the boat in distress. Therefore, I inform you that M/V Ocean Viking will provide immediate assistance to these people in distress and rescue them without delay.

My ship has the capacity to recover all of the people, to provide medical care and to transfer them to a place of safety in a reasonable period of time.”