The Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) is an international humanitarian non-governmental organization based in Malta that provides aid and assistance to vulnerable communities worldwide. MOAS main focus is responding quickly and efficiently to emerging crises and make a difference in people's lives.
Most activities between 2014 and 2017 have focused on sea-rescue of refugees and migrants. From 2017 missions have centered around healthcare to Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, and then expanded in the provision of specialised training for water and fire response - Disaster Risk Reduction that is currently udergoing.
Since 2019 MOAS is delivering food and medical aid in areas of crisis such as Yemen, Somalia and Sudan, in collaboration with international partners.
Since 2022 MOAS has been saving lives in Ukraine with an emergency medical mission, through a team of 150 medics who operates a fleet of 50 ambulances. They managed to save 40.000 patients as of March 2024.
Awards
Founder Chris Catrambone on Phoenix
MOAS was founded in 2013 in the wake of the escalation of the migration phenomenon through the Central Mediterranean, which quickly became the most deadly migrant crossing in the world.[1][2][3][4]
The first activities was a 21-day mission of the MY Phoenix vessel that commenced on 25 August 2014, the first rescue was a Maltese fisherman whose boat was drifting off Delimara (close to Marsaxlokk) after its engine failed. The man managed to attract the attention of the MOAS crew by waving. The three-metre fishing vessel was tied up alongside the Phoenix until help was called.[10]
MOAS organized its first migrant rescue on 30 August when it assisted a group of 250 Syrians and Palestinians, including 40 children. On the same day, the Phoenix also assisted 96 people travelling from Sub-Saharan Africa in a rubber dinghy who were transferred onto a merchant ship.[11] On 8 September, the Phoenix conducted two rescues involving almost 700 people migrants, 83 women and children. A two-day-old infant was among the people rescued.[12]
On the subsequent day, another 500 migrants were rescued from two separate vessels, bringing the tally up to 1,500 migrants saved in less than two weeks at sea.[13] MOAS rescued another 1,500 migrants throughout October, bringing the total number of rescues to 3,000.[14]
MOAS launched a crowdfunding effort in October and by 2015 raised $70,000. In February 2015, MOAS made a specific appeal to the maritime industry and mariners who are required to respond to emergencies. It said that seafarers transiting the Mediterranean would be especially affected by the numbers of refugees crossing from Libya to Italy after projects like the Italian mission Mare Nostrum were no longer in operation.[citation needed]
2015 mission in the Central Mediterranean
MOAS continued to operate in the Central Mediterranean Sea from May to September 2015, during which time it assisted almost 9,000 refugees, bringing its total number of rescues until the end of 2015 to 12,000.[citation needed]
Doctors Without Borders partnered with MOAS from May to September 2015 on board the MY Phoenix where they cared for 6,985 people rescued at sea after rescue by MOAS. The 6 person team included a logistician, a communications specialist, and medical staff who cared for migrants on board the Phoenix. Rescued people suffered from a range conditions including from dehydration and gunshot wounds.[15]
Mission in the Aegean Sea: December 2015 to March 2016
MOAS funding raising revenue was significantly increased following an increase in public awareness of the need for sea rescue in the aftermath of the death of Alan Kurdi,[16] enabling MOAS to expand its work to the Aegean Sea between December 2015 and April 2016.[17]
On 2 January, it announced that it has assisted a boat of 39 migrants, 11 of whom were injured by the violent impact on the sharp island rocks. A three-month old infant boy was severely hypothermic and was stabilized.[18] On 12 January 2016, MOAS assisted a vessel of Syrian refugees who had washed ashore on the island of Agathonisi. The group included a two-year-old boy who became the first known migrant casualty that year.[19]
For this mission, MOAS used the Topaz Responder,[20] a 51-meter custom-made emergency response vessel, which hosts two high-speed rescue launches. These smaller rescue vessels are named Alan and Galip, in honour of the Kurdi brothers.[citation needed]
In April 2016, the sharp fall in attempted crossings in the aftermath of the EU-Turkey deal and unfolding mass tragedies in the Central Mediterranean prompted the repositioning of all MOAS assets to the Central Mediterranean.[21]
2016 mission in the Central Mediterranean
MOAS launched its 2016 Central Mediterranean operation on 6 June, rescuing and assisting over 20,000 people in 2016, during which MOAS' search and rescue vessels operated in international waters 12-16 nautical miles off the coast of Libya. The 2016 Mission was run in conjunction with operational partners Red Cross Italy, who provided vital medical and psychosocial assistance, cultural mediation, food, clothing and emergency resources to the beneficiaries while they were on board.[citation needed]
2017 mission in the Central Mediterranean
MOAS launched its 2017 Central Mediterranean operation[21] on 1 April using the Phoenix and with their own medical team, and supported by a remotely-piloted drone. Over the Easter Weekend Rescue,[22] MOAS' crew members rescued an estimated 1,500 people.[citation needed]
In September 2017, MOAS announced the ending of their missions in the Mediterranean, in order to divert resources to assisting Myanmar's threatenedRohingya group of Muslims.[23][24]
Myanmar and Bangladesh
MOAS arrived in Bangladesh on 3 September 2017 to conduct a needs assessment of the unfolding humanitarian crisis.[25] On 1 October 2017 the Phoenix completed the first of two aid deliveries, transporting of 40 tonnes of food.[citation needed]
MOAS has established two field clinics where Rohingya refugees can receive primary and secondary medical care and where the host Bangladeshi community can access our emergency services. The first clinic was opened 14 October 2017 in the fishing community of Shamlapur,[26] near where refugees arrive by sea, the second was opened on 10 November 2017 to serve the remote refugee settlement of Unchiprang.[27][28]
The clinics offer provide triage, pharmacy, reproductive, maternal neonatal and pediatrics health services. Each clinic has a recovery suite, a maternity room, a surgical area, and an ambulance.[citation needed]
The clinics are staffed with doctors, nurses, midwives, pharmacists and logisticians, and treat up to 300 people every day for conditions including trauma, acute respiratory illnesses, gastric distress, malnutrition and fatigue. Over 40% of their patients are children.[citation needed]
Since 2019, MOAS has shifted its focus to Disaster Risk Reduction, offering training in Flood, Water, and Fire Safety in refugee camps and host communities. This initiative equips refugee volunteers and local participants with life-saving skills to respond promptly to water-related and fire emergencies and potential catastrophes.
Aid Deliveries in Areas of Crisis
In Yemen, Somalia, and Sudan, MOAS delivers life-saving famine relief, ensuring the timely distribution of ready-to-use therapeutic foods and pharmaceutical supplies to local partners.
MOAS Mission in Ukraine
Responding to the crisis in Ukraine in February 2022, MOAS initiated a comprehensive program providing emergency medical care and first response services. With a fleet of 50 fully-equipped ambulances, our skilled teams of 150 medical professionals have saved over 40.000 lives on the frontline and more than 28,000 in communities cut-off from medical infrastructure.
Moreover, MOAS, in collaboration with the Ronald McDonald House Charity (Latvia), MHP Gromadi, and the Oksana Dmytriieva Charitable Foundation, operates a Mobile Medical Unit, offering Primary Health services to support civil communities and aiming for a reduction in mortality and equitable healthcare access for all those affected by the conflict.
MOAS in Malta
In Malta, MOAS runs diverse projects assisting migrant communities, fostering integration, and promoting solidarity through educational, personal development, sports, well-being, and English language classes. The Remote Learning project ensures connectivity for families and adult learners, providing tablets and modems to facilitate continuous education. Simultaneously, Information and Learning Centres in AWAS-run open centers serve as multifunctional learning spaces.
Funding
This initial 60-day mission was funded through the contributions of the founder and donations from private citizens.
From 2015, MOAS was privately funded through the support of the public, grant-making organisations, crowd-funding initiatives, foundations and corporate sponsorship. Operational partners, including MSF, Emergency, and Red Cross Italy with the support of the International Federation of the Red Cross, have also been major contributors to the mission in the Mediterranean Sea.
Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search is conducted over. These include mountain rescue; ground search and rescue, including the use of search and rescue dogs ; urban search and rescue in cities; combat search and rescue on the battlefield and air-sea rescue over water.
Emergency is a humanitarian NGO that provides free medical treatment to the victims of war, poverty, and landmines. It was founded in 1994. Gino Strada, one of the organization's co-founders, served as EMERGENCY's Executive Director. It operates on the premise that access to high-quality healthcare is a fundamental human right.
In 2021, Istat estimated that 5,171,894 foreign citizens lived in Italy, representing about 8.7% of the total population. These figures include naturalized foreign-born residents as well as illegal immigrants, the so-called clandestini, whose numbers, difficult to determine, are thought to be at least 670,000.
The Diciotti class is an Italian-designed offshore patrol vessel, presently in use with the Italian Coast Guard, Iraqi Navy, Armed Forces of Malta and Panama SENAN. These ships are designed and built by Fincantieri on the bay of La Spezia to Muggiano and Riva Trigoso shipyards.
The Phoenix is a ship built by Davie Shipbuilding in Lévis, Quebec and launched as the trawler GC Bassin in 1973. Since then, her roles have included a research vessel and a training ship, before her current use by the Migrant Offshore Aid Station as a rescue vessel, rescuing people in distress at the Mediterranean Sea.
Operation Mare Nostrum was a year-long naval and air operation commenced by the Italian government on 18 October 2013, which rescued at least 150,000 migrants on the dangerous Mediterranean sea crossing. The operation ended on 31 October 2014, and was superseded by Frontex's Operation Triton.
Operation Sophia, formally European Union Naval Force Mediterranean, was a military operation of the European Union that was established as a consequence of the April 2015 Libya migrant shipwrecks with the aim of neutralising established refugee smuggling routes in the Mediterranean. The operational headquarters was located in Rome. The EU mandate for the operation ended on March 31, 2020. Operation Irini is the successor operation.
Christopher Paul Catrambone is an Italian American entrepreneur and humanitarian, best known for founding the Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS), a global humanitarian organization dedicated to responding quickly and efficiently to emerging crises.
Regina Egle Liotta Catrambone is an Italian philanthropist and together with her husband Christopher Paul Catrambone, the co-founder of the Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS), a non-governmental organisation specialising in search and rescue at sea. Since MOAS's inception over 40,000 people have been rescued during MOAS’ SAR missions running between 2014 and 2017 in the Central Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea. In 2015 Regina was awarded the “Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana” by the President of the Italian Republic Sergio Mattarella and the “National Order of Merit” by the President of the Republic of Malta; Maria Louise Coleiro Preca for services rendered by MOAS – in the location, rescue and assistance of migrants in difficulty within the Mediterranean Sea.
Proactiva Open Arms (POA) is a Spanish NGO devoted to search and rescue (SAR) at sea. Set up in October 2015, it carried out its first rescue action that same month from its base on the Greek island of Lesbos. As well as maintaining a permanent base on Lesbos, the NGO carries out its rescue operations from three ships, a sailing yacht Astral, the Golfo Azzurro and Open Arms.
The MV VOS Grace is a platform supply vessel registered in the United Kingdom and operated by Vroon Offshore. Built in Fujian province, China the VOS Grace was chartered by the UK government to assist the Royal Fleet Auxiliary and Border Force in 2016 with operations rescuing migrants crossing the Aegean Sea during the European migrant crisis. The ship operated alongside RFA Mounts Bay of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary and the two Border Force cutters.
The MV Aquarius, formerly Aquarius Dignitus and Aquarius 2, is a 1977-built dual-flagged search and rescue vessel, which has been used to rescue refugees and migrants stranded in the Mediterranean Sea since 2016. It has been chartered and operated since February 2016 by the NGOs SOS Méditerranée and Médecins Sans Frontières as a rescue vessel for migrants and refugees making the Mediterranean crossing in makeshift craft from Libya to Italy as part of the European migrant crisis.
SOS Méditerranée is a European, maritime-humanitarian organisation for the rescue of life at sea, currently operating in the Mediterranean sea in international waters north of Libya. The organization chartered the Aquarius and more recently the Ocean Viking in order to rescue people fleeing by sea from Libya and who risk drowning. The group was founded in June 2015 by German former captain Klaus Vogel and Frenchwoman Sophie Beau after the Italian navy ended the rescue Operation Mare Nostrum in 2014. Its headquarters are in Marseille (France), Milan (Italy), Frankfurt (Germany), Geneva (Switzerland).
Jugend Rettet is a non-governmental organization (NGO) from Berlin. Its goal is to save drowning persons at the Mediterranean Sea. Operations are conducted with the Iuventa, a ship that sails under Dutch flag. This ship was seized in August 2017 after suspicion of cooperation with migrant smugglers.
Mission Lifeline is an association from Dresden, founded in 2016, whose purpose is to rescue people at sea in the Mediterranean. The rescue ship Lifeline was initially used for this, and since the end of August 2019 the Mission Eleonore has been used. From October 2021, Mission Lifeline have operated the ship Rise Above.
Salvamento Marítimo Humanitario (SMH) is a Non-governmental organization (NGO) that is governed by the principles of "volunteering, solidarity, humanity, universality, equality, impartiality and dignity" founded in Zarautz (Gipuzkoa) in 2015.
Alan Kurdi, named after the drowned Syrian child of Kurdish origin, Alan Kurdi, is a ship which has been used since 2018 by the humanitarian organization Sea-Eye - under the German flag - and latterly the Italian humanitarian NGO, 'ResQ - People Saving People' for the rescue of migrants in the Mediterranean Sea. Before this, she was an oceanographic vessel operated by the Land of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, named Professor Albrecht Penck.
The Bourbon Argos is an anchor handling tug supply vessel from the oil & gas offshore marine servicing company Bourbon Offshore Greenmar, and sails under the Luxembourg flag.
The criminalization of sea rescue in the Mediterranean refers to the increase in policing of individuals and search and rescue (SAR) NGOs aiding migrants in the Mediterranean Sea. It further encompasses the increase in de-legitimisation attempts of SAR NGOs by governments, high-profile politicians and officials.
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