''Sea Eye 4'' is an offshore supply ship that is used as a sea rescue ship. The Sea-Eye organisation moved the ship to the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

in 2021 to rescue

refugees A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

History

The ship was built under, construction number 296, at Scheepswerf Pattje in Waterhuizen,

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, for the

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

shipping company Norway Supply Ships in

Stavanger Stavanger (, , American English, US usually , ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the fourth largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the a ...

as an offshore supplier. It was launched as the ''West Eagle''. In 1981 the ship was sold to Arvid Bergvall Jr. & Co., registered in

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

and renamed ''Springfield''. In 1982 the ship went to the Dutch shipping company Vroon, which renamed it ''Oil Express''. In 2011, Eagle Shipping bought the ship and renamed it ''ESL Express''. The following year the ship went to Wind Express Shipping. The new name was ''Wind Express''. In October 2020, the ship was sold again and converted by the Sea-Eye organisation into a sea rescue ship to accommodate boat refugees. Among other things, an infirmary and two rescue boats that can be launched using cranes were retrofitted. had started a donation campaign on ''wirschickennocheinschiff.de'' for the purchase of the ship. More than 660 large and small organisations, initiatives, companies, associations and foundations from different areas of society came together in the alliance. Among other things, the alliance is supported by the

German Trade Union Confederation The German Trade Union Confederation (german: Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund; DGB) is an umbrella organisation (sometimes known as a national trade union center) for eight German trade unions, in total representing more than 6 million people ...

(DGB), World Vision Germany, the Coordinating Council of Muslims and the

Evangelical Church in Germany The Evangelical Church in Germany (german: Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland, abbreviated EKD) is a federation of twenty Lutheranism, Lutheran, Continental Reformed church, Reformed (Calvinism, Calvinist) and united and uniting churches, United ( ...

. The cost of buying and converting the ship and transferring it to the Mediterranean amounted to around one million euros. With the ship renamed ''Sea-Eye 4'', the organisation replaced the much smaller rescue ship '' Alan Kurdi'', which it passed on to the Spanish organisation

Proem-Aid Proem-Aid ('Professional Emergency Aid') is a Spanish NGO which operates in the Mediterranean Sea with the aims of aiding and rescuing those in distress on the water. It was formed by a group of emergency service workers who volunteered their time a ...

. On 8 May 2021, ''Sea-Eye 4'' began its operation from the Spanish port in Burriana to rescue migrants in need in the Mediterranean. The mission is supported by United4Rescue (alliance for civil sea rescue) and the aid organisation

German Doctors for Developing Countries German Doctors e.V. is a humanitarian aid organization which operates in third world countries, especially in slums and rural areas. About 300 voluntary doctors are sent to Bangladesh, India, Kenya, Sierra Leone and the Philippines each year to he ...

References

{{Reflist Sea rescue organizations European migrant crisis Immigrant rights activism Humanitarian aid organizations in Europe Refugee aid organizations in Europe