Two months of activity for Lithuanian Boarding Team on board of FGS RHEIN
On June 17th 2017, the second Lithuanian Boarding Team (LBT), composed of 12 specialists, began its deployment in the EUNAVFOR MED Sophia operation, replacing the previous one.
The boarding team is capable to perform friendly approaches, flag inquiries, different kinds of boarding, along with Search And Rescue activities.
Among all, it’s worth to mention, on July 7th, the support provided to the crew of the Federal German Ship (FGS) Rhein in disposing an empty wrecked ship floating off the coast of Sicily.
On the morning of 11th July, the FGS Rhein was involved in an event, ended with the rescue of more than 900 migrants (some of them were also seriously injured), including some pregnant women and even babies.
All the migrants, safely brought on board before sunset, were taken care of by the FGS Rhein crew, who provided, for the following five days, medical aid, psychological and logistic support.
During the operation, six boats were destroyed, hindering the smugglers to re-use them for similar illegal purposes.
After the operation, the LBT leader said: “It is an honor for me and my team to serve alongside our German comrades in the EUNAVFOR MED op. SOPHIA. I believe this mission is important for the EU, and we will do everything in our power to perform the tasks and expectations set in us”.
A few weeks later, the LBT conducted a friendly approach to a Libyan fishing vessel. This allowed the German team to gather relevant information, useful to fulfill the op. Sophia’s tasks in order to help dismantling the local human trafficking networks.
