When approached by a migrant rescue non-profit to create an app that could locate ships in distress in the Mediterranean, German web developer Nik Zemke sought help at a hackers’ convention to find like-minded volunteers. Zemke found allies among the tech enthusiasts at the Chaos Computer Club’s annual gathering in Hamburg, a popular destination for hackers and activists who want to utilize their coding skills for positive social impact.
Zemke, 32, described the attendees as “nice people who are really fed up with certain events in the world and are into awesome ways of trying to change that.” After five years of hard work and coding sessions in their spare time, Zemke and his team developed the One Fleet app, which will soon be deployed on search-and-rescue vessels operated by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the Mediterranean.
According to the UN refugee agency, almost 28,000 individuals have died or gone missing while attempting to cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe since 2015, making it one of the deadliest routes for migrants and refugees fleeing conflict, persecution, or poverty. Last year, the number of people trying to reach Europe by land and sea increased by 70% compared to 2022, with a record number of deaths or disappearances reported since 2017.
In a tragic incident in June 2023, hundreds of migrants drowned when an overloaded boat sank off the Greek town of Pylos, marking one of Europe’s worst shipping disasters in recent years. Migrant rescue NGOs are hopeful that the One Fleet app, alongside drones and vessel auto-detection tools currently in development, will streamline the process of locating and responding to boats in distress.
Ships engaged in search and rescue (SAR) operations using One Fleet will have the ability to record the coordinates of emergency mobile or satellite phone calls made from vessels in distress, aiding in identifying the closest response team. Zemke noted, “It will at least make the life of the coordinators easier.”
Drones, phones, and algorithms
Under international law, European Union (EU) member states and ships are mandated to rescue individuals in distress at sea, resulting in hundreds of thousands being rescued in recent years in the Mediterranean by EU ships and NGOs. However, following a crisis in 2015 where over one million refugees and migrants made it to Europe, the EU and member states have reduced maritime patrols, shifting focus to air patrols and collaboration with Libya to deter human traffickers.
NGOs involved in SAR missions assert that they are trying to bridge the gap left by these changes. Oliver Kulikowski, a spokesperson for the German NGO Sea-Watch, emphasized that with their current resources, they cannot fulfill the urgent needs. Seeking cost-effective solutions, Sea-Watch reached out to Zemke and his team to explore options.
Sea-Watch and other NGOs planning to use the One Fleet app presently rely on radars, binocular patrols, or tracking Frontex drones to locate distressed migrant vessels. Volunteers are actively involved in projects involving drones, image detection, drift-pattern prediction, and thermal-imaging cameras, often leveraging open-source data to keep costs low.
German space engineer Steffen Merseburg is part of a team enhancing 60-year-old image-detection algorithms to identify small boats from publicly available satellite imagery. They are working on Space-Eye, a project initiated by the German rescue organization Sea-Eye, with the aim of speeding up their model’s analysis and prediction capabilities.
Data sovereignty
NGOs are also keen to develop their tech tools to accurately document rescue missions, establishing a repository of potential evidence as they confront legal challenges over their activities. The One Fleet app will assist in building this archive.
According to data from the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, ten out of 18 civil society SAR vessels active in the Mediterranean in 2023 faced legal repercussions. Legal issues arise from safety or navigation infractions and an EU law punishing actions that facilitate unauthorized entry of non-EU nationals unless for humanitarian purposes. In situations where authorities restrict operations, having a diverse set of tech tools can help maintain search and rescue efforts.
Luca Kunz, an oceanographer based in Germany who volunteers with the Civil Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre, is collaborating on an app that forecasts a drifting vessel’s trajectory, bolstering operational efficiency during missions. Kunz, like other tech-savvy volunteers, is propelled by the humanitarian goal of saving lives.
Kunz stated, “Spending hours or nights coding is worth it if I can contribute to the rescue of even one person.” – Thomson Reuters Foundation
