Migrant-rescue NGO urges boat donations

(ANSA) - Rome, April 20 - A privately funded NGO based in Malta and dedicated to saving migrants at sea will resume its search and rescue operations in May in conjunction with Doctors Without Borders humanitarian NGO, founder Regina Liotta Catrambone told Vita da Malta online paper Monday.
    Catrambone's Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) saved 3,000 people in two months last year.
    "We call on all Italian shippers and entrepreneurs to make any unused seaworthy vessels available to us," Catrambone said.
    "Civil society and private citizens can contribute a lot...especially those who have weathered the economic crisis and can dedicate themselves to philanthropy".
    MOAS is equipped with a 40-metre (130 ft) expedition vessel named the Phoenix, two drones, two rigid-hulled inflatable boats, and a highly experienced team of rescuers and paramedics.
    "This year we invested even more on technology, because reaching a vessel in distress even 10 minutes faster can avert tragedies," she said.
    This year's MOAS-MSF operation was made possible thanks to private financing, including from a German entrepreneur, and is carried out in international waters following directives from the Rome Coast Guard command, Catrambone said.