Phoenix (1973)

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.

History
Name: GC Bassin
Builder: Davie Shipbuilding, Lévis, Quebec[1]
Launched: 1973[2]
History
Name: NSS Pattam
Acquired: 2002
History
Name: Phoenix, Phoenix 1
Owner: Phoenix Charters, Indianapolis, IN, US[1]
Port of registry:  Belize
Acquired: 2007
Identification:
Status: in active service[2]
General characteristics
Tonnage:
Length: 39.9 metres (131 ft)[2]
Beam: 9.4 metres (31 ft)[2]
Draught: 4.6 metres (15 ft)[1]
Crew: 16[3]
Aircraft carried: 2 Schiebel Camcopter S-100s[3]

Background

The Phoenix was built by Davie Shipbuilding in Lévis, Quebec and launched as the trawler GC Bassin in 1973. Subsequently, she was given to Gorden-Pew fisheries.[1][4] In 2002, she was renamed as NSS Pattam, before being giving her current name in 2007.[1] She has been previously used as a research vessel and training ship, before her current use as a rescue vessel.[3]

Migrant Offshore Aid Station
Main article: Migrant Offshore Aid Station

On 25 August 2014, the NGO Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) launched the Phoenix as a support vessel to aid vessels in distress in the Mediterranean Sea.[3][5] Her inaugural mission continued until October 2014.[6]

The Phoenix is based in Malta and funded by Christopher and Regina Catrambone, who were inspired by an appeal from Pope Francis and the Lampedusa shipwrecks in October 2013.[7] She is equipped with two Schiebel Camcopter S-100 unmanned aerial vehicles, dinghies and other life-saving equipment together with paramedics with the aim of saving migrants, refugees and other people in distress at sea.[3][7]

First mission

Her inaugural mission lasted from 25 August 2014 until October 2014.[6] During her first mission, The ship responded to requests from local rescue coordination centres while cruising the Mediterranean.[7] The running cost of the first mission was €2 million, the extent of the funder's budget.[3]

On 4 October 2014, while en route to Pozzallo, Sicily the Phoenix rescued 106 migrants in a rubber dinghy.[8]

On 19 October 2014, the Phoenix rescued 97 African migrants from the Gambia, Senegal, Guinea Bissau, Niger, Mali, Sierra Leone and Benin who had been at sea for 12 hours, after receiving direction from rescue coordination centre in Rome.[9]

On 20 October 2014, the Phoenix rescued 274 migrants, including 200 Syrians and Pakistanis from a 15-metre wooden boat off the coast of Italy.[10][11][12] The rescued migrants were passed to the Italian Navy.[11]

The MOAS has helped to save 3000 migrants during its first mission.[13]

Second mission

MOAS and the Catrambones are planning to spend the winter of 2014/15 fundraising to send the Phoenix on a second mission in 2015.[13]

See also

References
  1. "PHOENIX 1 - IMO 7234272". www.shipspotting.com. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  2. "Phoenix - Yacht". www.marinetraffic.com. Archived from the original on 5 November 2014. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  3. Cacciottolo, Mario (29 August 2014). "The millionaires who rescue people at sea". BBC. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  4. Geistdoerfer, Aliette (1987). Pêcheurs acadiens, pêcheurs madelinots: ethnologie d'une communauté de pêcheurs (in French). Presses Université Laval. p. 319.
  5. "Our Mission". www.moas.eu. Archived from the original on 7 November 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  6. Vassallo, Raphael. "No one deserves to die at sea | Martin Xuereb". Malta Today. MediaToday Co. Ltd. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  7. Micallef, Mark (23 July 2014). "Benefactor couple fund first ever private migrant rescue at sea mission". Times of Malta. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  8. Zammit Lupi, Darrin (16 October 2014). "A rescue at sea". widerimage.reuters.com. Reuters. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  9. "salvatagg iehor ta immigranti minn organizazzjoni privata" (in Maltese). Television Malta. 19 October 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  10. Collins, Gail (23 October 2014). "Gambia: Back Way to Europe - Is It a Risk Worth Taking?". The Point. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  11. "Over 274 migrants caught near Italian coast" (RT). RUPTLY video agency. 22 October 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  12. Laursen, Wendy. "Desperate Migrants Pay Extra for Life Jackets". www.maritime-executive.com/. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  13. "The family that saved 3,000 lives". BBC News Magazine Monitor. BBC. 10 November 2014. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
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