In the middle of the ocean, where waves do not understand about borders or passports. This is where a baby was born, on board a rescued canoe 180 kilometers from the island of El Hierro. In the Canarian immigration route, drama meets the joy of a birth once again. The last few hours have been long and intense for the rescue services of Maritime Rescue who, during the early hours of Wednesday and Thursday, assisted 624 people traveling aboard six canoes heading for the archipelago. This is the first peak recorded since the arrival rate began to slow down in March. Estimates from the Ministry of the Interior for the coming months are not at all hopeful, as they calculate that about 70,000 people could be waiting to board a precarious boat to risk their lives in an attempt to reach Canarias.
Maritime Rescue’s operations began when, around nine o’clock on Tuesday night, the Norwegian-flagged merchant ship Ramform located a canoe with over a hundred people on board and raised the alarm. On that canoe sailed a woman who had just given birth. With barely any space to move and no medical assistance, she gave birth to a child. At the time of birth, six days had already passed since they had set sail from some point on the African coast, and they had to endure two more days at the mercy of the waves until they were located by the crew of the Urania guardamar.
When they were found, the woman was calm and had the child asleep in her arms, unaware of the dangerous situation they were in. Faced with this extraordinary situation, the Maritime Rescue personnel activated the Helimer 201, which evacuated them both so they could be attended to as soon as possible at the Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria University Hospital, in the south of Tenerife. Both are stable and are being cared for by the Canarian Health Service staff.
13 Days of Sailing
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On this vessel were 190 people, mostly of Sub-Saharan origin, but there were also eight Pakistanis and two from Bangladesh. On their way to the emergency location, the Urania team encountered another struggling makeshift boat, further complicating the intervention. There were another 160 people – 152 men, eight women, and a child – on board, who were eventually rescued around four in the morning by the Talía guardamar, which transferred them to the dock of Arguineguín, in Gran Canaria.
While carrying out the rescue, they received a new alert about the location of a third canoe, which was assisted by the Adhara lifeboat, which set sail from the port of La Restinga. Seeing the canoe, they encountered the most dramatic situation of the entire night. On board were 67 people from Ghana, Senegal, Guinea Bissau, and Mali – 62 men and five women. When they felt safe, they recounted that they had been sailing for thirteen days, starting from Nuakchot, Mauritania, and during the crossing, they had lost around 12 companions, whose bodies were thrown overboard.
The harsh conditions they had faced during the journey had seriously affected the health of the expedition members, and three men had to be urgently evacuated, which the Helimer 201 transferred to the Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria Hospital. Unfortunately, one of them passed away at the hospital. The rest of the survivors disembarked at the La Restinga dock, in El Hierro, around four in the morning, and eight had to be sent to the island’s hospital for various pathologies derived from the crossing.
Among the rescued migrants were eight Pakistanis and two men from Bangladesh
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The fourth rescue occurred around eleven o’clock at night when the Emergency and Security Coordination Centre (Cecoes) 1-1-2 received a call from a canoe carrying 44 people, including three women and two children. The occupants reported being adrift and claimed to see lights on both sides. It turned out to be Tenerife and La Gomera. The Miza lifeboat team was mobilised at that moment and around one in the morning managed to locate the makeshift boat to proceed with the rescue of the migrants, who arrived at Los Cristianos, in Tenerife, shortly before five in the morning.
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By morning, the fifth boat arrived on its own in Los Cristianos, accompanied by the Menkalinan lifeboat. This was a canoe with 55 men, which was located by radar about 15 kilometers from Tenerife. The last canoe was detected by an echo of the Integrated External Surveillance System (SIVE) of the Guardia Civil in waters near El Hierro, around 13 kilometers from the coast. On board were 108 people, including 21 women and eight children under six years old. The Adhara lifeboat accompanied the canoe to La Restinga, where all occupants disembarked.
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