Red Cross volunteers and Maritime Rescue personnel carried out a total of 165 actions on the high seas from January to August 31. Most of the interventions were rescues for immigrants arriving by boat, although the training lessons for volunteers also stood out, according to the Red Cross Emergency Director, María José Vera, who held a meeting with the head of the Salvage tower. Marítimo de Cartagena, Sergio Rodríguez, and the regional president of the Red Cross, Faustino Herrero.
Red Cross sources explained that, from January to August 31, “we have assisted almost 3,000 immigrants, which is a lower number than last year.”
Rodríguez assured that “our three objectives on the high seas are to rescue human lives, control ship traffic and protect maritime heritage.” To do this, he added, “we have a new boat, the ‘Pandora’, which is located in Águilas, where training is carried out.” Another novelty in the rescues is that the Red Cross already has a team of drones.
During her speech, Vera stated that “our team of volunteers is made up of 242 people.” Regarding the arrival of boats, he admitted that “we do not have concrete data, but the numbers of Algerians arriving in waters of the Region are similar to those of last year. In these cases, our main objective is to help them, since they arrive injured and dehydrated. Once they are taken care of, a PCR is carried out ».
50 years of rescues
Both Vera and Herrero highlighted that “this 2021 marks fifty years since the Red Cross activity began at sea; more than half of them from the hand of Salvamento Marítimo. During that time, the lives that we have saved are countless, and the natural heritage that we have managed to protect is incalculable ”. And they stressed that “the activity in the field of rescue is one of the most emblematic within the Red Cross.”
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