LIVE +++ Move your body, every everybody +++ Everyone pulls together to move the boat. First, it’s positioned at a slight angle to make room. Yesterday’s dry runs with the crane are on the agenda today, this time with the real RHIB (aka MOLLY). It’s not exactly like backing a car out of a parking spot. It takes quite a few hands to loosen the lines in the right spots and reattach them elsewhere. By the way, Eiffel 65. Not punk, but probably on the CD shelves of most kids who grew up in the ’90s. In 2025, the Italian Eurodancers gave a concert here during the San Domenico festivities in Augusta. Unfortunately, I missed it, but it must have been a real banger. And in the background, Mount Etna comes into view after the thick curtain of clouds has cleared for the first time.+++ ÓRALE PUES +++ „Con dinero o sin dinero hago siempre lo que quiero.“ In the background, Mexican ranchera music plays through the galley. José Alfredo Jiménez, one of the all-time greatest pop stars in Mexican music history, provides the soundtrack for dinner. Our head chef Naomi brought corn tortillas and chipotle chiles especially for this occasion, and plenty of black beans are being mashed to go with them. Bean purée, let's go! It's not H. P. Baxxter, but H. P. High Protein sending his regards. Buen provecho!+++ Dry runs under Greek direction +++ Under the guidance of our exceptional anti-fascist athlete from Athens, who is also a former top basketball player. Just a few years ago, he was on his way to becoming a star in the Greek basketball Olympus, but he’s since found a new passion (good for us!). As 1st Mate, that is, First Officer, he’s instructing the crew today on how to crane the RHIB. First up: dry runs. Instead of the actual RHIB, a basket stretcher is suspended from the crane to simulate the procedures. The crew needs to familiarize themselves with the crane, keep the lines taut from all sides, and move in a controlled manner in sync with the crane’s movements. Everything needs to be well-coordinated before they move on to the actual rescue boat (RHIB aka MOLLY) tomorrow.+++ So kind of pseudo-philosophical aka Descartes +++ I think, therefore I am, cogito ergo sum, or something like that. When not too much is going on every now and then, your mind wanders a bit. You sit together, get to know each other, strike up a conversation. Favorite animal: seahorse; favorite color: red; favorite music: punk. Just the usual small talk. And then you sit there and think to yourself, this is complete madness. People come on board who blow their entire annual vacation on rotation duty. Everyone’s so committed. The same goes, by the way, for the people who lend a hand during the shipyard work or volunteer with the association throughout the year (shout-out to them!). And without all the Amboatsador:as, there would be a nothing going on here anyway. From day one, there’s a sense of professionalism and mutual respect here, it’s insane. There’s already a certain tension in the air, officially goosebumps.+++ Fish Food +++ When the stove here is running at full blast and the rice ends up getting sticky (at least on the bottom of the pot), eventually even soaking and scrubbing with a metal scrubber won’t help. So, cast off, drop the pot into the harbor basin overnight, and the mullets will take care of the rest. The next morning, give it a good rinse again, and you’re all set. Fish are happy, dishy-wishy done, make some coffee, take a lunch break, and get back to work. Life hacks from the life of a seafarer, or rather, a country rat who’s lost its way. Follow live

Solidarity statement with the Freedom Flotilla

In the face of the ongoing genocide in Gaza and following the drone attack, we stand together in solidarity with the Freedom Flotilla!

On 2nd May in the early morning, we witnessed yet another violation of international humanitarian law: the ship Conscience, part of the Freedom Flotilla, bound for Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid and medicines, was attacked by two drones. Hours before the attack, Israeli Airforce C-130 Hercules flew towards Malta and flight tracking shows it was flying at a low altitude over eastern Malta. Although the Israeli military has declined to comment, the Freedom Flotilla strongly suspects that it was Israeli drones that fired shots at the unarmed vessel, causing a fire and risking to kill the crew and the volunteers onboard (the evidence has been collected here). Following the Mayday call launched by the crew, a Cypriot cargo ship arrived on the scene and proceeded to extinguish the fire. The crew refused to abandon the vessel, as this would have meant leaving the ship unattended and probably caused the loss of the humanitarian aid it was carrying.  

Palestine has been occupied by Israel since 1948, when 700,000 Palestinians were expelled from their homes and land. Since then, we have witnessed the proliferation of Israeli settlements considered illegal under international law, and Israel has imposed an apartheid regime on Palestinian people. While violence has been structural to this regime, following the Hamas-led attack across the Gaza fence on 7 October 2023 in which over 800 civilians were killed, we have witnessed  an unprecedented escalation in which the state of Israel has been carrying out systematic genocidal operations aimed at eliminating the Palestinian population residing in the Gaza Strip.

Since then, there have been over 52,000 deaths, including more than 17,400 children, but there are many others who remain missing, thus the real death toll could be even higher. Journalists, humanitarian workers, doctors, as well as ambulances and hospitals have been systematically targeted by Israeli attacks, in clear violation of international humanitarian law.

The Israeli siege, which has resulted in the almost complete prevention of access to basic necessities, including food and medicine, as well as medical equipment for the treatment of the sick and injured, and the destruction of the country’s health infrastructure, has been an essential tool in Israel’s genocidal plan.

Faced with the starvation imposed on the population of Gaza and the severe shortage of medicines, the Freedom Flotilla set out to break the siege by bringing essential goods into the country.

Breaking the siege should have been the task of European, Western and Arab states that continue to call themselves democratic while supporting Israel. Yet once again, members of civil society needed to act, putting their own lives at risk.

We recall how on 31st May 2010 the Israeli Defence Forces attacked the Freedom Flotilla while it was en route to deliver humanitarian aid, causing the death of 10 people. Unfortunately, as underlined by an activist of the project, «We live in times where ships carrying the most advanced weaponry in the world pass freely, and ships carrying urgent humanitarian aid to a starving population burn».

While Prime Minister Netanyahu plans to implement a ‘final solution’ that will confine the entire population of Gaza in 45 square kilometres and allow Israel to occupy the remaining 90% of the Strip, we condemn the European Parliament’s refusal to discuss the unacceptable and potentially lethal attack on the Freedom Flotilla and to condemn the ethnic cleansing and genocide of the Palestinian people.

We strongly condemn the deliberate attack on a civilian vessel carrying essential goods and medical aid. 

We condemn the silence and inaction of Western and Arab states in defence of the people of Gaza and in the face of yet another explicit crime committed by Israel, confirming its full and complete impunity.

We stand in solidarity with those who continue to resist in Gaza in the face of relentless attempts at extermination by Israeli forces, as well as with those who, like the crew of the Freedom Flotilla, continue to stand alongside them, denounce these acts and take action to stop the genocide.