The Geoeconomic and Geopolitical Dimensions of Migrant Rescue

In 2015, over one million people fled to Europe across the Mediterranean Sea; of these, at least 3,735 died in crossing (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 2015). The commercial shipping industry plays a substantial role in the rescue of people in distress on the Mediterranean. According to the International Chamber of Shipping, in the first few months of 2014, 1,000 commercial vessels rescued more than 65,000 people (Saul, 2015, para. 4). In a highly publicized and deadly rescue effort in April of 2015, 800 people drowned when a migrant boat crashed into merchant vessel the King Jacob in the Central Mediterranean (Heller & Pezzani, 2016, p. 1). Various sources have since reported that commercial ships are “deliberately avoiding migrant-heavy areas, refusing to reveal their position, or by-passing migrant vessels in distress” to avoid the risks associated with performing rescue at sea (Aarstad, 2015, p. 414). Based on original findings about commercial ship rescues, I analyze humanitarian and geopolitical risks that govern maritime rescue in the Central Mediterranean. The research is based on interviews with 24 maritime professionals with experience in maritime rescue and a series of freedom of information requests (FOI) to the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) for information about rescues involving commercial ships. By examining Frontex data pertaining to maritime incidents involving migrants I was also able to determine that, of the 2,779 recorded incidents during the European Border and Coast Guard Agency’s Joint Operation (JO) Triton that took place from 2014 to 2018, 359 identified the involvement of commercial/merchant ships. My contribution also develops a new and unique method of analyzing the geographies of migrant rescue using geospatial ship tracking technology; the Automatic Identification System (AIS). These geospatial data help illustrate the economic risks and costs associated with rescue. Based on data from the FOI requests, I provide examples of how commercial ships involved in rescues can be identified and studied using free online ship tracking software to reveal a variety of details about the geography of a particular rescue. This digital approach provides a spatialized analysis of how maritime rescue on the Central Mediterranean is governed, but it also highlights an economic geography of maritime rescue that is entangled with the political geography of migration and border security at sea. I argue that geographical analysis of commercial shipping provides insights into the economic interests and political risks that drive these vessels and their movement. Specifically, I examine the role of ship captains in maritime rescue and show how their humanitarian responsibility is coordinated from state-based rescue stations and mediated by geopolitical tensions surrounding disembarkation and geoeconomic interests that fuel the commercial vessels.