Description
On May 6, 2021, the Sea Eye 4, a civil rescue ship, received a distress call in the Maltese search and rescue zone. Malta denied responsibility and the Sea Eye 4 was a three-day journey away from the case. At that point, the people in the wooden boat had been adrift for four days. At the same time, a cargo vessel passed by, and, while they claimed they could not take the people onboard, they assisted them with food and water. Two days after the distress call, another cargo ship rescued the people. The ship’s company then asked the Sea Eye 4 to meet them halfway and transfer the people to the rescue ship, where people could access better assistance. Tracing these examples of solidarity, and lack thereof, as well as the systems in which merchant vessels operate, this article explores the conditions that should take place to foster solidarity from the maritime industry and ways to trigger it. This industry is known for operating within conditions of modern slavery and exploitation. In this context, this article demonstrates how the systems that incentivise these conditions are the same ones that allow migrants and refugees to die and disappear at sea with no remorse: capitalism and the imperialist white supremacist patriarchal culture. Understanding the structures in which merchant vessels operate as well as their objectives allows us to understand under what conditions solidarity can arise, and how we can involve this industry in conversations around solidarity.
