Sea-Watch 5 is a former Norwegian supply ship for wind power and oil platforms.
Sea-Watch 5 is a former Norwegian supply ship for wind power and oil platforms.
The ship was built in 2010 by Sealink Engineering & Slipway (Malaysia) and commissioned as Bravo Topaz. It sailed under the names Roxanne 42 (2010–2018) and Ocean Don (2018–2022). In 2022, the ship was acquired by the Sea-Watch association for 4.5 million euros [1] and christened as Sea-Watch 5 in Hamburg in early November. [2] The ship was converted in Flensburg during a period running until October 2023. According to the association, the conversions were delayed due to, among other things, strict fire safety regulations. [3]
The ship is 58.3 metres (191 ft) long and 13.8 metres (45 ft) wide [4] and has been redesigned for its rescue role to accommodate up to 500 people. [5] It has a gross tonnage of 1,452 and is equipped with two 4,400 kilowatts (5,900 hp) Cummins diesel engines for main engines. [6]
In December 2023, around six weeks after its commissioning, the Sea-Watch 5 rescued around 100 people in distress in the Mediterranean during its first missions in international waters and provided them with first aid on board. [7]
In May 2025 the ship rescued 190 people from the sea and delivered them to the port of Marina di Carrara in Tuscany. [8]
In late September 2025 the activists claimed to be 40 nautical miles off the Libiyan coast when they picked up some 66 migrants from a fiberglass boat at night. The captain steered that boat back to Libya after the migrants were on Sea-Watch 5. A Libyan coast guard vessel later approached Sea-Watch 5 and demanded them to leave the area, with some crewmembers hearing a gunshot from the Libyan vessel. On their way back they picked up another group of migrants and finally landed 124 migrants from Bangladesh and Sudan in Italy. [9]
On 12 December 2025 the activists picked up 69 migrants in the Strait of Sicily in two operations and were given La Spezia as port to disembark them. Minors were allowed by Italian authorities to leave earlier in Pantelleria. [10]