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Weeks-long Standoffs in Mediterranean Becoming 'New Normal'

Migrants are seen aboard the Spanish migrant rescue ship Open Arms, close to the Italian shore at Lampedusa. (Reuters)
Migrants are seen aboard the Spanish migrant rescue ship Open Arms, close to the Italian shore at Lampedusa. (Reuters)
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Weeks-long Standoffs in Mediterranean Becoming 'New Normal'

Migrants are seen aboard the Spanish migrant rescue ship Open Arms, close to the Italian shore at Lampedusa. (Reuters)
Migrants are seen aboard the Spanish migrant rescue ship Open Arms, close to the Italian shore at Lampedusa. (Reuters)

The Ocean Viking carrying 356 people, mostly Africans, rescued in the Mediterranean off Libya is closing in on two weeks at sea without being assigned a safe port to offload the traumatized passengers — a situation that charity workers decry as "the new normal" as Europe fails to devise a systematic response.

It "is a complete shame. It is inhumane," Jay Berger, project coordinator for Doctors Without Borders on the Ocean Viking, said by satellite phone to The Associated Press Thursday. "There needs to be concrete action. This is not how people should be treated."

The Ocean Viking conducted four rescues off Libya from August 9-12, and is in its 13th day without being permitted to disembark the rescued people, as dictated by maritime law. The ship, with a stated capacity of 200 passengers, has been sailing between the Italian island of Linosa and Malta, staying out of sight of land as that would only excite the rescued people.

Berger said that the situation on board remains "manageable," but anxiety is growing about what is going to happen. The passengers are becoming increasingly concerned that they will be taken back to Libya, where many suffered torture and detention, he said.

"The longer we are at sea, the harder it is for them to trust us," he said. "Already two weeks is way too long."

So far, there have been no medical emergencies or outbreaks of tension, as was the case on the Spanish rescue ship Open Arms, which disembarked Tuesday night on the Italian island of Lampedusa after a prosecutor ordered the vessel seized as part of investigations into possible charges of kidnapping, failure to provide aid and a safe port.

Unlike the Ocean Viking, the Open Arms had been permitted to enter Italian waters after an administrative court ruled that it could access port. An appeal to that ruling filed by Italy's hard-line interior minister, Matteo Salvini, is still pending.

During the 20-day-long Open Arms standoff, dozens were evacuated for medical emergencies or because they were minors. The situation spiraled out of control after the vessels anchored within sight of Lampedusa, and 15 migrants jumped in the sea on Tuesday seeking to reach land on their own out of frustration. That triggered a resolution as a prosecutor visited the ship and Spain dispatched a Navy ship to escort the Open Arms back Spain.

The 83 migrants that remained on board until the end will be transferred to five EU countries, but the timing remains unclear.

Berger said the Ocean Viking, operated in coordination with SOS Mediterranee, is determined to abide by all laws, and does not intend to force its way "into any territorial waters in any state." That was the case with a German ship operated by Sea-Watch, which forced its way into Lampedusa after 17 days at sea with 40 migrants after declaring a state of emergency on board.

"We are trying our best to abide by the law and proper authorities, that is why we are not forcing our way in," Berger said. But he added that if conditions deteriorate to an emergency, it would be the captain's call to enter the nearest port.

While Malta has refused the Ocean Viking port, Italy has not responded to its requests. But Salvini has made his position clear that no humanitarian rescue ship will be allowed in an Italian port, winning parliamentary backing for tighter restrictions that include fines of up to 1 million euros for any ship that defies him. That move came just days before Salvini triggered a crisis that led to the collapse of Italy's populist government.

On board the Ocean Viking, Berger emphasized that while the ship awaits port, there are no humanitarian rescue ships operating in the central Mediterranean Sea, where some 580 people are believed to have died this year, according to the International Organization for Migration.

While that number is lower than last year's death toll of 1,130 from January through August, the rate of deaths per estimated crossing is higher, according to the IOM.

"If we are not out there saving lives, people will die at sea. This is turning the Mediterranean into a graveyard," he said. "It shows a lack of care, a lack of decency and a level of apathy projected from the EU member states."

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Fire Tornadoes are a Risk Under California's Extreme Wildfire Conditions

The National Weather Service warned Tuesday that the combination of high winds and severely dry conditions have created a “particularly dangerous situation” - The AP
The National Weather Service warned Tuesday that the combination of high winds and severely dry conditions have created a “particularly dangerous situation” - The AP
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Fire Tornadoes are a Risk Under California's Extreme Wildfire Conditions

The National Weather Service warned Tuesday that the combination of high winds and severely dry conditions have created a “particularly dangerous situation” - The AP
The National Weather Service warned Tuesday that the combination of high winds and severely dry conditions have created a “particularly dangerous situation” - The AP

As if they aren’t already facing enough, firefighters in California also could encounter fire tornadoes — a rare but dangerous phenomenon in which wildfires create their own weather.

The National Weather Service warned Tuesday that the combination of high winds and severely dry conditions have created a “particularly dangerous situation” in which any new fire could explode in size. The advisory, which runs into Wednesday, didn’t mention tornadoes, but meteorologist Todd Hall said they're possible given the extreme conditions.

 

A look at fire tornadoes according to The AP.

What is a fire tornado? Fire whirl, fire devil, fire tornado or even firenado — scientists, firefighters and regular folks use multiple terms to describe similar phenomena, and they don’t always agree on what’s what. Some say fire whirls are formed only by heat, while fire tornadoes involve clouds generated by the fire itself.

The National Wildfire Coordinating Group’s glossary of wildland fire terms doesn’t include an entry for fire tornado, but it defines a fire whirl as a “spinning vortex column of ascending hot air and gases rising from a fire and carrying aloft smoke, debris and flame,” and says large whirls “have the intensity of a small tornado.”

Wildfires with turbulent plumes can produce clouds that in turn can produce lightning or a vortex of ash, smoke and flames, said Leila Carvalho, professor of meteorology and climatology at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

“There is a rotation caused by very strong wind shear and a very hot, localized low-pressure system,” she said.

What is a fire tornado capable of? Fire tornadoes can make fires stronger by sucking up air, Carvalho said. “It creates a tornado track, and wherever this goes, the destruction is like any other tornado.”

In 2018, a fire tornado the size of three football fields killed a firefighter as it exploded in what already was a vast and devastating wildfire near near Redding, about 250 miles (400 kilometers) north of San Francisco in northern California. Scientists later described an ice-capped cloud that reached 7 miles (11 km) into the air and caused winds up to 143 mph (230 kph).

Research also suggests fire tornadoes can carry airborne embers, also called firebrands, over long distances, said James Urban, an assistant professor in the Department of Fire Protection Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. They also can change the fire’s behavior, he said.

“That’s also something that is dangerous and scary for first responders, or really anyone,” he said. “It can change and maybe go in a different direction.”

The interaction between wind, the fire plume and topography determines whether a tornado will develop, he said. For example, sometimes a certain topography will restrict airflow in such a way that a spiral pattern develops.

Can you make one in a lab? Together with San José State University, Worcester Polytech is part of a Wildfire Interdisciplinary Research Center. In the lab in Worcester, researchers have created small fire tornadoes by putting up walls around a fire or arranging a bunch of little fires that together restrict airflow. But that’s on a much smaller scale than what’s happening with the wildfires.

“We’ve got the biggest fire lab in the US for a university, but we cannot get something the size of what’s been reported at these fires,” he said. “You can’t really bottle that and put it in a lab.”