ECOLOGICAL MISSION FOR EX PEOPLE-SMUGGLER'S BOAT
The motor vessel MareNostrum Dike, previously possessed by organizations of people smugglers on the route from Tunis to Italy, is now navigating the coast of southern Italy, as part of its new mission to explore the sea bed and monitor pollution levels.
The boat, previously known as Oceanis 473, had an original capacity for 12 passengers, but was carrying over a hundred illegal immigrants when it was intercepted and captured off the Sicilian coast by Italian coastal police.
Subsequently, it was assigned to the Archeoclub d'Italia, Italy's most important archaeology institution, which repaired it and gave it the new symbolic name of MareNostrum Dike after the Mare Nostrum humanitarian operation launched by the Italian government in 2013 and the Greek goddess of Justice.
Its present voyage, which follows the ancient Mediterranean sea routes of legend as recounted by Homer, takes it back to Palermo on the 23rd May 2024 to mark the date of the anniversary of the death of judge Giovanni Falcone who was killed in a car bomb attack orchestrated by the Mafia on the 23rd May 1992.
The MareNostrum Dike has expanded its operations for underwater archeological explorations to encompass educational cruises for young people and school children, including those with disabilities as well as teenage offenders detained in re-educational centres.
The Amalfi “leg” included a group of young detainees from the juvenile prisons in the Naples area, who have obtained divers certificates through training courses run by the Italian Naval Institute. The operation, promoted by the Municipality of Amalfi, involved working with divers from the Marine Academy to clean up the sea bed..
The Mare Nostrum humanitarian operation was launched by the Italian government in 2013 to rescue illegal migrants in difficulty while attempting the 145 kms crossing over the Strait of Sicily.
A year later, it merged with the larger scale Frontex, the European Border and Coastguard Agency, with the same mission: that of saving lives in the Mediterranean.
M. STENHOUSE
Info: Tel. +39.06.44202250/3426636606 www.archeoclubitalia.org
