Norfolk-based ship rescues migrants off Moroccan coast

NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — A Norfolk-based container ship rescued a small boat carrying several dozen migrants about 100 miles off the coast of Morocco on Friday.

The Maersk Kinloss responded around 5:30 a.m. local time after receiving a distress call from the Las Palmas Marine Rescue Coordination Center from Canary Islands, per Maersk spokesperson Kevin Doell.

The Kinloss was nearby at the time and found the roughly 20-foot vessel, which had no communication gear, in clear distress with about 50 people on board. The crew of Kinloss provided food, water and blankets to the migrants, and stayed with them for about seven hours until a Moroccan search and rescue boat, according to a witness on the ship who didn’t want to be identified.

The witness said the Kinloss had security concerns, so the migrants were not allowed to come onboard.

“Upon arrival of the SAR vessel, the AL MANAR, the passengers were successfully transferred from their boat to the AL MANAR and the MAERSK KINLOSS resumed her voyage,” Doell said. “We commend the exceptional seamanship and unwavering duty of care demonstrated by the American officers and crew of the Maersk KINLOSS during their timely assistance.”

The witness who tipped WAVY about the rescue says he believes the boat’s occupants, who reported being at sea for days, knew the Kinloss was heading to Spain and tried to have the ship bring them there. He also said a nearby fishing trawler first sent the distress signal on behalf of the boat.

Tens of thousands of migrants try each year to make the journey from Africa to Spain in open air boats similar to the one found Friday, and many die in the process, according to news reports. At least 951 died trying to reach Spain in the first months of 2023 alone, according to Al Jazeera. About 12,192 people made it the Spanish coast in that same timeframe, the county’s interior ministry reported.

Non-governmental human rights organization Caminando Fronteras has blamed the deaths on a lack of coordination between Spain and Morocco and are more concerned with “politics” than rescuing those stranded.

Experts cite several factors for increases in migration from Africa to Europe in recent years, including conflict and political instability. Climate change has exacerbated those already vulnerable conditions, experts say, with more intense floods and droughts spurring many to take the risk of migrating to Europe.

“Large numbers of especially desperate people willing to buy their way with traffickers, boats and across borders — that’s only going to increase with climate change,” Ian Urbina, director of the Outlaw Ocean Project, told PBS News Hour.

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