Rescuers under attack in Britain

Volunteers with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution are being attacked by angry Brits for rescuing migrants attempting to enter the UK illegally.

U.S. military attacks drug boats

The U.S. military has attacked numerous drug boats in the Caribbean and Pacific since September of last year, killing dozens of people.

Ancient duty to rescue at sea

For centuries, seafarers have felt a moral obligation to help those in danger. This sense of community between sailors dates back hundreds of years.

1910 Brussels Convention formalized rescue

The first international agreement on rescue came in 1910, requiring every ship master to render assistance to anyone at sea in danger, even enemies.

“Every master is bound, so far as he can do so without serious danger to his vessel, her crew and passengers, to render assistance to everybody, even though an enemy, found at sea in danger of being lost.”

Titanic disaster changed everything

On April 15, 1912, the RMS Carpathia received the Titanic's distress call and raced 50 nautical miles through icebergs to rescue 705 survivors.

SOLAS treaty established rescue obligation

After the Titanic, nations signed the SOLAS Convention in January 1914, requiring sufficient lifeboats and obligating captains to assist people in distress.

Original signatories dominated global shipping

Fourteen countries signed SOLAS initially, including the United States, United Kingdom, France, and Germany. Together they controlled most of the world's shipping.

SOLAS now covers 99 percent of vessels

The treaty has been updated three times and is now signed by nearly all countries, representing 99 percent of the world's merchant vessels.

RNLI saved 150,000 people since 1824

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution was founded in 1824, long before maritime rescue law existed. Its volunteers have saved nearly 150,000 people from drowning.

Migrants create rescue dilemma

Many people rescued by RNLI crews today are illegal migrants crossing the English Channel in unsafe vessels. This has sparked far-right protests against the rescuers.

Trump labels traffickers as terrorists

The Trump administration designated drug traffickers as narcoterrorists, arguing they are combatants who can be killed at sea without violating rescue obligations.

Even Nazis rescued Allied sailors

Nazi Germany often rescued Allied seamen until 1942, when Hitler and Admiral Donitz forbade rescue operations. This violation was not prosecuted as a war crime.

2004 amendments clarified rescue rights

Nations adopted amendments to SOLAS and maritime search and rescue conventions, stipulating that rescue obligations apply regardless of nationality, status, or circumstances.

“this obligation to provide assistance applies regardless of the nationality or status of such persons or the circumstances in which they are found.”

Assessing worthiness is impossible

If rescue workers had to determine whether people deserved saving, maritime rescue would become a moral nightmare. SOLAS wisely made the obligation universal.