The striking detail about the dinghies used by Libyan traffickers is their absurd dimensions. No more than 33ft long, they are packed with as many as 190 migrants, with no regard for the vessel’s seaworthiness.
“When a trough between waves passes underneath, the wooden slats on the floor of the boats can snap under the weight, and the boats fold like tacos — taking on water and leaving people chest deep,” Max Avis, 30, an Irish-born rescuer who trained with the RNLI in Wales, said. “In four months here in the Med I have dealt with 14 corpses, and they all drowned inside the dinghies, not in the sea.”
The Aquarius, operating off the coast of Libya, has saved the lives of countless migrants
PATRICK BAR/AP
He is part of a crew that set out on Saturday from Sicily on the Aquarius