“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.”