Why did you and your husband decide to set up MOAS?
We were on a sailing holiday in the Mediterranean. During the crossing between Lampedusa and Tunis, we saw a lifejacket in the water and we thought that it must have belonged to someone that didn’t make it across. It was a reality check. The sea we love is for many people a place of holiday and pleasure, but for other people it’s not, it’s a way to escape to Europe. On the same day, Pope Francis appealed to everybody to help with the situation in the Mediterranean and we thought, yes we can do something. We bought a boat and we leased two Schiebel S-100 camcopter drones. This is the first time that these drones have been used by civilians. We decided to go out from August to October, because that’s when our services are mostly needed.
Where do you take the migrants once you have picked them up?
Regina Catrambone, co-founder of the Migrant Offshore Aid Station
MOAS is the first privately funded search and rescue operation
