Migrant Offshore Aid Station

The Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) is a global NGO specialized in search and rescue. MOAS rescued almost 14,000 men, women and children from the Mediterranean Sea between August 2014 and October 2015, using a 40-metre (136-ft) expedition vessel, the Phoenix. MOAS received a "tidal wave of support" in donations following the death of Alan Kurdi. This allowed MOAS to expand its mission to the Aegean Sea and South East Asia.

On January 12, MOAS assisted a boatload of Syrian refugees who had washed ashore on the island of Agathonisi. The group included a two-year-old boy who became the first known migrant casualty of 2016. During operations, MOAS assists Rescue coordination centres (RCC) to mitigate loss of life at sea by providing food, water, life jackets and emergency medical care to migrant vessels in distress. When migrants are taken on board, under the coordination of the RCCs, MOAS then follows orders when it comes to disembarkation.

The operation is coordinated from the island of Malta, which lies in the central Mediterranean Sea and is close to the Italian islands of Sicily and Lampedusa. Italy and Malta are at the center of a migratory route connecting North Africa to Europe. Over the past years, both countries have coordinated and been directly involved in hundreds of cases saving thousands of lives at sea. MOAS is a professional operation designed for search and rescue. It is equipped with an 18-strong crew including seafarers, rescuers, paramedics and doctors. The Phoenix has its own clinic, rescue RHIBs and drones to assist in search and rescue.

The MOAS expedition vessel, named Phoenix, is a 40-metre (136-ft) steel boat built in 1973. She has a gross tonnage of 483t.

The Phoenix is equipped with two Camcopter S-100 remote piloted aircraft (RPAs) which monitor the seas from the sky and provide real-time intelligence to MOAS and the rescue coordination center of Malta and Italy. These RPAs have a range of 100 km (practically the distance between Malta and Sicily), a maximum speed of 200 km per hour and a flight time of six hours. Once spotted, the cameras give the crew images large enough to be able to read from a piece of paper in someone's hand.

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