On 19 July 2021, Sea-Eye announced that the Alan Kurdi (their third rescue ship) would be sold to the Italian maritime rescue organization RESQ-People for €400,000;[1] From August 2020 to 2025 Sea-Eye operated Sea-Eye 4.[2][3] In 2025 the operation of the 53m[4]Sea-Eye 4 was deemed economically no longer viable under the Piantedosi-rules and it was handed over to "Mediterranea".[5]
The vessel
Nis Randers in 2005.
In June 2024, in a joint press release, United4Rescue and Sea-Eye announced that they had purchased the former 23.1-meter-class[de] cruiser Nis Randers, originally operating for the German Maritime Search and Rescue Service, DGzRS, from a private owner for €465,000. The ship was then converted and overhauled to be used for rescue missions in the Mediterranean under the name Sea-Eye 5.[6]
On completion of the work, the boat was named at a ceremony in Ancona by Sandra Hüller and Omorogbe Peter Obamwonyi, Maritime Crew Manager at Sea-Eye.[7]
The boat is equipped with a sickbay[7] and its MMSI is 218049720.[8][9][10]
Operations
SEA-EYE 5 began Mediterranean rescue operations at the end of October 2024.[11] In the first two weeks of operation, it is claimed that SEA-EYE 5 saved 175 people.[12]
In June 2025 it was detained by the Italian authorities at Pozzallo. After rescuing 65 migrants from an overcrowded rubber dinghy, a complex exchange of messages with the port authorities and the Maritime Rescue Coordination Center in Rome finally appeared to permit their disembarkation at Pozzallo, but the boat was then detained. The week before, the vessel Nadir of RESQSHIP had been similarly detained.[13][14][15]
In late July 2025 Sea-Eye 5 picked up another 31 migrants in two sorties. Two migrants were evacuated to shore in advance, the rest were brought variously (during the first sortie) to Reggio Calabria and (during the second sortie) to Vibo Valentia.[16][17]
↑ "La Sea Eye 5 è sotto fermo amministrativo"[The Sea Eye 5 is under administrative detention]. mediterranearescue.org. Retrieved 13 August 2025. A serious attack on civilian rescue at sea
↑ "Italien setzt deutsches Rettungsschiff »Sea-Eye 5«fest"[Italy detains German rescue cruiser Sea-Eye]. Der Spiegel (in German). 17 June 2025. Retrieved 13 August 2025. After its crew rescued refugees from the Mediterranean, the "Sea-Eye 5" is no longer allowed to leave Sicily. Italy has seized the ship. This is the second such operation in a short period of time.
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