Saving lives in the Mediterranean Sea

Dear friends,

The whole team on board SOS MEDITERRANEE, at sea or on land, wishes you a very happy new year 2025 ✨

Thanks to the support of committed citizens, the Ocean Viking was, in 2024, a refuge for thousands of people fleeing desperate situations. Since the creation of SOS MEDITERRANEE, we have saved 41,383 lives at sea.

Each person saved is testimony to what humanity can achieve when it acts with compassion and determination. The Ocean Viking is the fruit of this collective commitment: a lifeboat, but also a symbol of solidarity in the face of indifference.

Your generosity enables these lives to continue their journey. Your commitment makes this mission a reality. We have demonstrated that it is possible to resist in the face of the unacceptable and offer a chance of survival to those who no longer have one.

In a few days, the Ocean Viking will be back at sea. We need your help to continue this vital mission. 💙

"On the bridge, the mood is tense. The team, silent. I watch my colleagues: some scan the horizon with their binoculars, others make calls with their flashlights."

Lucille is in charge of communications on board the Ocean Viking. The moment she describes is essential to our mission: it's the binocular watch. To rescue people in distress at sea, our work begins long before we launch our lifeboats.

As soon as our ship arrives in the area of operations, crew members take turns scanning the horizon with binoculars from the deck. It's a crucial mission: a single dot, reflection or flash could be a boat in distress, carrying women, men and children in mortal danger.

This responsibility requires extreme concentration, taking place in one-hour slots per person. With a 15-kilometer field of vision, one comes to hope that the craft isn't blue, at the risk of it melting into the immensity of the sea.

In the dark, the search is even more difficult: "I remember a boat we found in the dark thanks to the flash of one of the survivors' cell phone", says Lucille.

When a boat is spotted, it's imperative not to lose sight of it. You then need to alert the relevant authorities and prepare for rescue. At sea, every moment of watchfulness is a race against time to save lives.

Thank you, dear donors, for your support and your precious donations!