Aquarius

The MV Aquarius, formerly Aquarius Dignitus and Aquarius 2, is a 1977-built German Fisheries Authorities ship, used since 2020 as a Russian deep sea survey vessel. The ship was used to rescue refugees and migrants stranded in the Mediterranean Sea between 2016 and 2018. It was chartered and operated between February 2016 and late 2018 by the NGOs SOS Méditerranée and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF or Doctors without borders) as a rescue vessel for migrants and refugees making the Mediterranean crossing in makeshift craft from Libya to Italy as part of the European migrant crisis. The rescue vessel was converted from the German coast-guard and fishery protection vessel (then named Meerkatze, built in 1977). The rescue ship had a registered capacity to accommodate 25 crew members and carried up to 4 journalists and up to 300 rescued migrants. All of the refugees slept on the deck, as the vessel did not have beds, cabins or accommodation for refugees. In November 2018, The Guardian reported that her flag had been revoked by Panama and Liberia, and there was a search for a prospective flag to register under.