Proactiva Open Arms

Proactiva Open Arms
Named afterProactiva Serveis Aquàtics
FounderÒscar Camps
Founded atBadalona (Catalonia, Spain)
TypePrivate non profit foundation
PurposeSearch and rescue (SAR)
Location
  • Lesbos, Greece
Region
Mediterranean
ServicesSea rescue lifeguards
Websitewww.proactivaopenarms.org

Proactiva Open Arms (POA) is a Spanish NGO devoted to search and rescue (SAR) at sea. Set up in October 2015, it carried out its first rescue action that same month from its base on the Greek island of Lesbos.[1] As well as maintaining a permanent base on Lesbos, the NGO carries out its rescue operations from three ships, a sailing yacht Astral,[2] the Golfo Azzurro[3] and Open Arms.[4][5][6]

In 2016, Proactiva won the H.E.R.O. Award for Outstanding Team Contribution to a Maritime SAR Operation at the first edition of the UK-based International Maritime Rescue Federation's (IMRF) H.E.R.O. (Honouring Excellence in Rescue Operations) Awards for their participation in saving the lives of over 200 people who had capsized their overloaded vessel off the north shore of Lesbos.[7]

The NGO has received several other awards, including the European Citizen's Prize awarded by the European Parliament in 2016.[8] Its founder, Òscar Camps, was named Catalan of the Year by El Periódico de Catalunya in 2015.[9] In October 2021, film director Marcel Barrena released a film, Mediterraneo: The Law of the Sea, devoted to the story of Òscar Camps and his colleagues which is very close to be a documentary.

  1. ^ Mackey, Robert. "As More Children Drown, Volunteers on Lesbos Say Rescues Are Left Largely to Themselves". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
  2. ^ Minder, Raphael. "Saving Refugees on the Mediterranean: a Luxury Yacht With a New Purpose". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  3. ^ Domenèch, Rossend. "El barco de Proactiva, de nuevo intimidado por una patrullera de Libia". El Periódico (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  4. ^ "Proactiva Open Arms estrena buque insignia para sus rescates en el Mediterráneo". El Periódico. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  5. ^ "Las donaciones a Proactiva Open Arms bajan un 40% desde el referéndum independentista". El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  6. ^ "A pesar de todo y por cuarto año consecutivo Astral vuelve a entrar en el Mediterraneo". Twitter (in Spanish).
  7. ^ "Search & Rescue 'Heroes' Announced at First IMRF International Awards Event". International Maritime Rescue Federation. Retrieved 19 March 2018. Archived 20 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ "CIVI EUROPAEO PRAEMIUM" (PDF). European Parliament. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  9. ^ "Pro-refugee activist wins 2015 Catalan of the Year Award". Catalan News Agency. 8 April 2016. Retrieved 13 December 2016.

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