FEMALE VOICE: Good morning. I am here in Syracuse port. We’ve got our backpacks and our gear and passports.

 

FEMALE VOICE: Oh, wait, Teresa. I think I might see it. Oh.

 

TERESA KRUG: In March 2026, almost 14 years to the date since Samia took her fateful journey across the Mediterranean. Audio producer, Becca Seidel, and I stood on a dock in Sicily. We were watching a migrant rescue vessel approach.

 

FEMALE VOICE: It looks like the ocean banking is approaching. Appears to be getting closer and closer.

 

TERESA KRUG: We were about to embed ourselves with a search and rescue crew, headed for international waters near Libya.

 

FEMALE VOICE: I’m hopeful that this experience will give us a better idea of what it’s like to be at least at sea.

 

TERESA KRUG: As we stared out at the water, I thought about the hundreds of migrants who could be out at sea right now in boats not equipped for the long journey, playing the odds.

 

FEMALE VOICE: Surreal to think that the people that we might meet in the next coming days have already left Libya and are out in the Mediterranean Sea somewhere.

 

TERESA KRUG: The Ocean Viking’s red hole stood out against the sparkling blue water. It’s one of the largest ships in the Mediterranean doing these types of rescue.

 

FEMALE VOICE: I’m getting nervous chills. It’ll all be fine.

 

TERESA KRUG: We walked on board.

 

FEMALE VOICE: Hi.

 

FEMALE VOICE: Hi.

 

FEMALE VOICE: Hi.

 

FEMALE VOICE: Hi.

 

FEMALE VOICE: You had safe travels?

 

TERESA KRUG: And settled in for the journey.

 

FEMALE VOICE: All good. Yeah. Thank you.

 

FEMALE VOICE: Thank you.

 

FEMALE VOICE: So I’ll do a quick tour of the ship now. But– you’ll have a thorough one with, like, all the different levels in the back and everything. (INAUDIBLE).

 

TERESA KRUG: For more than a decade, I’ve tried to understand what happened to Samia in the Mediterranean Sea. I’ve spoken to a passenger who was on the boat with her. I’ve interviewed dozens of people who have taken a similar voyage to get a sense of what it’s like to travel in these small, crowded vessels.

 

TERESA KRUG: And I’ve tried to wrap my head around the fact that thousands of people still attempt this crossing every year, braving a sea that’s become a graveyard for people trying to reach Europe. By the time we boarded the Ocean Viking in March, more than 600 people had already died or gone missing in the Mediterranean in 2026.

 

TERESA KRUG: It was one of the deadliest starts to a year on record in more than a decade. I wanted to see this final resting place for so many other people with my own eyes and get a chance to say goodbye to Samia. I’m Teresa Krug. I’m from 30 For 30 Podcasts. This is The Fastest Girl in Somalia, episode five, “The Sea.”

 

FEMALE VOICE: It’s– it’s a nice day, actually. You’ve got some sun today, whereas sometimes we’ve been out here in the freezing rain.

 

TERESA KRUG: We’re standing on the very top deck of the Ocean Viking with the team’s post-rescue coordinator, Rebecca. She is in charge of the medical team on board. But right now, she’s holding binoculars and leaning her arms on the railing to keep steady against the win.

 

REBECCA: So we find out about boats in distress through a variety of different ways. One of the ways we do this is by carrying out what we call a bridge watch. So this is members of our crew with binoculars standing on the front of the ship. And we’re conducting a 360 degree look around the ship.

 

TERESA KRUG: After a few days at sea, we’re finally at a search and rescue zone. It’s a place where many migrant boats run into trouble. So Rebecca and her fellow crew members are on alert. They conduct bridge watch all day in shifts.

 

REBECCA: Some people are better at it than others. Much the same as, you know, some people become radiologists as doctors, ’cause they’re very good at spotting (LAUGH) things like that. But we always, during daylight hours, no matter whether it’s winter or summer, we have crew eyes keeping an eye.

 

TERESA KRUG: Rebecca and her colleagues work for SOS Méditerranée. Around 2015, rescue organizations like this started appearing in response to a growing crisis at sea.

 

REBECCA: At the moment, we’re on our way to a fixed position, because we know there are people in distress there. But that doesn’t mean we can’t find other people on the way, even in weather like this.

 

TERESA KRUG: The migrants’ journey is much farther than it looks on a map. But overwhelmingly, people cross it in cheap, flimsy vessels definitely not made for the waves and the distance of a sea. Smugglers will overcrowd these boats. Boats meant for a max of 15 people will be crammed with 50 to 100.

 

TERESA KRUG: Sometimes more. There’s no room to move and nowhere to escape. So many things can go wrong. The boats can break down or run out of fuel. Very often, they’re overpowered by waves. Rebecca says March can be a treacherous time for boats out on the Mediterranean Sea because the weather is always changing. What can look like safe conditions to cross the sea can rapidly devolve into a storm.

 

REBECCA: It can be really challenging in rough weather. There’s a lot of motion in the water. So what we are looking for when we’re doing the bridge watch is basically anomalies.

 

TERESA KRUG: Anything interrupting the horizon, anything unusual at all could be a boat full of people who need help.

 

FEMALE VOICE: What do you think or feel when you’re standing out here, just looking out at this water?

 

REBECCA: Apart from seasick today? No. (LAUGH) It’s an amazing feeling when you’re still out here and you see no one around you. You really feel sometimes that you’re at the end of the earth. But also I’m on a big ship. So I then think about how people must feel in these tiny boats and how vast this must feel. It’s one of the things that is quite often said, that never underestimate the sea because she can be ruthless, and you can definitely feel that when you’re standing up here.

 

TERESA KRUG: We’ve been spending the past few days on board getting to know the members of this crew. Some of them are lifelong sailors. Some are doctors and nurses. Some are intercultural facilitators who speak Arabic and other languages that people crossing the Mediterranean are likely to speak.

 

TERESA KRUG: Between bridge watch, training drills, and other rescue prep, lots of them told us why they got into this work to begin with. They couldn’t sit back and watch people die at sea. Here on the bridge, all we can see for miles around us is the horizon.

 

TERESA KRUG: But we know there are people out there. People on boats like Samia’s, trying to stay above the waves, trying to stay alive. Samia’s boat made it past the Libyan shoreline into international waters. It was April 2012. It’s my understanding that Samia’s boat was captained by a fellow passenger in exchange for a free ride.

 

TERESA KRUG: And the smugglers stayed safe on land. For 24 hours, the boat sped along the waves, with the passengers crowded together and completely at the mercy of the weather. Samia was on a different boat than Aisha, the friend she’d navigated Libya with. But they were experiencing the same conditions. Aisha says she was frightened by the roughness of the water.

 

AISHA: In the Mediterranean Sea, the waves, sometimes they can– they can look like mountains, how big they are. And then you’re gonna see, like, this big wave, like kind of mountain. And you say like, “Oh, my goodness. The boat’s not gonna make it.” And this isn’t (UNINTEL) on top. (UNINTEL) going down. You know?

 

TERESA KRUG: Samia and her fellow passengers stayed awake even in the dark of night without life jackets, waves higher than their heads, not knowing when it would end. Aisha wasn’t within view of Samia for this leg of her journey, but she knows people who were.

 

TERESA KRUG: And so do I. Here is what I’ve heard happened next. It was still dark outside when a very large wave overtook Samia’s boat. Those who could held on to the rope attached to the perimeter of the boat, clinging for dear life. Excess water settled into the middle of the boat, weighing it down.

 

TERESA KRUG: In the commotion, a can of fuel spilled into that water, starting a fire. It spread quickly, burning several passengers sitting right next to the can. The passengers jumped up, screaming, trying to shake off the fuel. I’ve been told that Samia turned to everyone and tried to get them to relax. But without a full supply of fuel, the passengers were in trouble. It was no longer possible to reach Europe on their own. Then they saw something in the distance.

 

AISHA: And then they have seen three big ships. Like, you know, different ships.

 

TERESA KRUG: They decided to chase one of the two big ships. In the dark, the ships’ light, both close enough to reach. But if they failed, the passengers would be reduced to floating around the Mediterranean Sea until someone chanced upon them.

 

TERESA KRUG: For hours, led only by the ship’s light against the night sky, the rubber boat sped towards the large ship in the distance. But the ship was much further away than they realized. With each extra mile, the rubber boat was losing precious fuel. Finally, hopeful that they were within viewing distance, the passengers began to wave their arms and yell.

 

TERESA KRUG: But there was no response from the ship. Desperately, a man reached for one of the small children on the rubber boat and held him over his head. The ship started moving toward them. It was an Italian merchant vessel. It was huge compared to the rubber boat.

 

TERESA KRUG: And as it got closer, it started creating even bigger waves, which pushed the small boat around. The waves were so high that, at times, Samia’s boat gained air before landing again hard. Passengers grabbed on to the sides to keep from falling out.

 

TERESA KRUG: The crew from the freighter threw what sounds like a rope ladder overboard. It landed in the water near Samia. In the chaos, Samia reached forward and began moving up the ladder, gripping and releasing each rung, looking toward the moment that a hand would reach out to bring her aboard. But the growing weight of passengers on the ladder proved too much. One of the knots tied to ship gave way from the strain, causing the ladder to swing to one side. Everyone fell into the sea, including Samia.

 

REBECCA: (UNINTEL) platform, (UNINTEL) platform for Ocean Viking.

 

(MALE VOICE: UNINTEL)

 

REBECCA: I was just wondering if I could get some information from you about the condition of the people that you have with you. Over.

 

MALE VOICE: In– major– cases, (INAUDIBLE).

 

TERESA KRUG: We’d been on the Ocean Viking for several days, scanning the open seas for migrant ships in distress. And now the crew was honing in on a rescue. It would be sort of an unusual rescue. Most situations involve boats like Samia’s. Small rubber boats or fishing boats packed with people.

 

TERESA KRUG: In this case, the situation had started in the usual way. People caught in the middle of life-threatening waves. But they’d seen something in the distance. An oil rig platform. Its blinking lights in the middle of the dark, a lifeline as the storm threatened to drown them all. As the winds and rain came down, the passengers had climbed on to the rig’s metal ladder. A couple days later, they were still there, seeking refuge.

 

MALE VOICE: So the general conditions are there is no–

 

TERESA KRUG: As we approached the platform, Rebecca was trying to figure out what we were getting into. That’s always a big question on these rescue ships, as the passengers of these boats suffer all kinds of injuries and sicknesses, including fuel burns, hypothermia, and dehydration.

 

MALE VOICE: Some flu. Stomach pain. One of the ladies, she is not– sure, but maybe she suspected that she is pregnant.

 

REBECCA: Good. Copy. Thank you very much.

 

MALE VOICE: Roger.

 

TERESA KRUG: Normally, search and rescue ships can approach a boat in distress immediately. It’s maritime law that if they see a boat that’s in trouble, they have to act. But because this was an unusual situation, there were different rules. Before we could approach, it would take another whole day for the Ocean Viking to get clearance from the owner of the oil rig and a web of international governing authorities. Another day of more than 100 people sleeping on an uncomfortable hard surface with no shield from the elements. Then we heard from Angelo, the coordinator of the search and rescue.

 

ANGELO: Okay. So finally, we– receive– the– all the possible green lights that– we need to proceed for the rescue. So we (UNINTEL). (CHEERS) (APPLAUSE)

 

TERESA KRUG: With the official go-ahead, the crew sprung into action.

 

MALE VOICE: Okay. Are we happy? Ready to go? (BACKGROUND VOICES) Okay. Let’s go.

 

MALE VOICE: Yeah. Let’s rock and roll.

 

MALE VOICE: Let’s rock and roll.

 

TERESA KRUG: Audio producer Becca and I put on all of our gear, waterproof suits, helmets, radios, and climbed into one of the Ocean Viking’s sturdy rubber rescue boats. We’d be with roughly half the crew doing the rescue, getting the survivors safely off the oil rig.

 

TERESA KRUG: We’d mostly be there to document. But we’d been trained to be ready if they needed extra hands. The other half of the crew stayed behind on the Ocean Viking. They would handle the post-rescue, checking for sicknesses, bruises, and broken bones. Becca and I sat in the back as the crew sped towards the platform.

 

(MALE VOICE: UNINTEL)

 

TERESA KRUG: As we got closer, the people on the platform came into focus. A big crowd of them looking down at us over the railing.

 

MALE VOICE: Okay. My friends, please stay quiet. Okay? Listen to the crew. Stay quiet. We need to communicate. Okay? (VOICES) Please stay quiet.

 

TERESA KRUG: We got right up to the metal ladder and the crew got in position at the front of the boat. Women and children lined up to come down the ladder first.

 

MALE VOICE: Baby. There’s a baby coming.

 

TERESA KRUG: We watched as the crew pulled person after person on to our boat. Some of the survivors appeared weaker than others. Some looked like they were just teenagers. And there were two babies who looked absolutely tiny being handed down the ladder.

 

FEMALE VOICE: There are about ten– ten passengers and a couple kids that have now boarded. People are walking backwards down the ladder. So far, there haven’t been any issues.

 

TERESA KRUG: The crew worked together, directing people how to sit safely in our boat. It was moving to me to be around the people who were passionately trying to make sure others survived and seeing the relief on the faces of those who’d been rescued. It really got to me.

 

FEMALE VOICE: I mean, I got really emotional. (UNINTEL) even waiting a day and a half, but also there’s a part of me that’s been waiting, like, many years. People are happy and relieved. I don’t know what’s gonna happen long term, but at least in this moment, you know, they’re in– they’re in a safer place.

 

MALE VOICE: Candice (PH), let’s drop (UNINTEL). Let’s drop (UNINTEL).

 

TERESA KRUG: The crew fit as many people as they could on to our boat. A second boat was waiting behind us to take another round of people. We turned around and sped back towards the Ocean Viking.

 

MALE VOICE: Ocean Viking. (LAUGH)

 

FEMALE VOICE: (UNINTEL) free.

 

MALE VOICE: (UNINTEL). Congratulation.

 

FEMALE VOICE: (UNINTEL) free.

 

(MALE VOICE: UNINTEL)

 

(Overtalk)

 

MALE VOICE: Ocean Viking. Brava. You have done it. (UNINTEL) you should be praised. (UNINTEL) you should be praised.

 

TERESA KRUG: In the days leading up to the rescue, Becca and I had gotten a refresher on CPR. We’d taken a psychological first aid course. We’d mentally prepared to see people on the verge of death. What we didn’t prepare for was the joy. People were weak, but they were also giddy, joyful to be alive.

 

TERESA KRUG: As the sun set, the post-rescue team lined up the survivors on deck, got them into showers, and gave them clean clothes and shoes. They gave everyone a medical check and started addressing any immediate needs. At the same time, the deck took on a party atmosphere.

 

TERESA KRUG: But underneath that joy, there was something else. A feeling of deep loss. Days earlier, before the survivors had found the gas platform, they had been on flimsy rubber boats out in the storm. And during the worst of it, two of their fellow travelers had fallen overboard. Two people trying to find a better life. They’d survived Libya and made it to the final leg of their journey. And now they were gone. Like so many people before them.

 

AISHA: This is the– is the closest information that I can give you. So Samia, around seven people died in her boat.

 

TERESA KRUG: Aisha has pieced together the rest of what happened on Samia’s boat in the years since. After the ladder gave way, Samia was in the water, surrounded by her fellow passengers. Everyone was panicking, struggling to keep their heads above water.

 

AISHA: Samia could swim and knew how to swim. So she actually managed to– to– to s– to swim when everyone was on– on the ocean. Another lady, who could not swim, (UNINTEL) her. Like, she held her leg and they struggled on the water until they c– like, they went under the ship. And that’s how she losted her life.

 

TERESA KRUG: Aisha told me about one of the last conversations she had with Samia before they got on their separate boats.

 

AISHA: And I remember Samia telling me, “Have you ever tried when you are in the shower holding back your breath and closing your nose? And how do you feel?” Basically, just kind of (GASP). Right? When you’re in the shower and then you try to hold your breath and close your nose.

 

AISHA: You’re just gonna be (GASP). You’re gonna do that. Right? So she was like, “What do you think people who drown in the ocean will feel?” You know, this is a question she actually asked me. You know, for me, Samia’s death, I always have, like, how she actually felt, you know, knowing that she actually was experiencing that now. You know? I– I hope it went quickly. I hope so. You know? I hope that she did not suffer. I hope that she did not have so much pain. That’s– that’s just one thing I hope so much from the bottom of– of my heart.

 

TERESA KRUG: Aisha was one of the lucky ones. She’d lost her friend, but she’d survived, eventually making it to Europe, to the island of Malta. It was there while still waiting to get to the mainland that she watched the 2012 London Olympics.

 

AISHA: That Olympic sickened me. Sickened me watching it. So– we were watching from the TV– the Olympic. And then we were like, “That should be Samia.” We were all saying that (UNINTEL). We were like, “That should be Samia.” It’s like– it’s just sickening to me, to my stomach, like, watching it, knowing that that could be my friend.

 

TERESA KRUG: Samia had tried to board one of the small boats multiple times before this final voyage across the sea. She’d been captured and detained in Libya. And I know there were stories she didn’t tell me about the things she endured in Sudan. But the fact that she got so close to her dream, all the way to the Mediterranean Sea, only to die there, is the fact that continues to haunt me. In the 14 years since Samia passed away, I’ve gone back to trace as many steps as I can and meet people who knew her. What I’ve come to better understand is this. There’s still a lot of anger about her death.

 

AISHA: (UNINTEL) what she died for. That’s– that’s the things you– you ask yourself. You know, she was a very bright, young girl, full of dreams, full of hopes, full of plans. And suddenly, those have been taken away from her. I achieved what my dreams were at the time. Knowing that she could not do that I was able to do is just– it’s just s– a pain that I will live my life. Whenever I achieve something, it’s something that will always be with me.

 

TERESA KRUG: Ultimately, no one has ever been held accountable for Samia’s death. And I doubt anyone ever will. Nor has there been enough justice served for anyone else who drowned in Mediterranean in 2012 or any time since then. When I told crew members on the Ocean Viking the story of how Samia died, they all nodded with recognition, including Giannis (PH), who you heard earlier during the rescue. He was the one at the front of our boat guiding and sometimes holding survivors as they stepped off the oil rig. He knows firsthand what can happen when rescues go wrong or when ships are not equipped to encounter people in distress.

 

GIANNIS: Yeah. Of course. That’d happened many times. Ooh. It’s very sad to talk about this because– I’m thinking, you know, so the– the crew of the ships, they’re trying to find a way to help.

 

TERESA KRUG: Rebecca, the post-rescue coordinator, has also seen a lot of death over the years.

 

REBECCA: So the first thing that comes to mind is it’s a story that I’ve heard many times before. And it’s an outcome that we’ve seen repeated many times and that I’m so sorry that it was the outcome for them.

 

TERESA KRUG: I’ve been sitting with Samia’s story for so long that I thought I knew it all or at least most of it. But on the Ocean Viking, I saw firsthand that what happened to Samia is part of something much larger.

 

FEMALE VOICE: Okay? So as we told you yesterday, you are safe on board and will not go back to Libya. And we have news for you. We are going north of Italy. We don’t know where exactly, but we are heading north of Italy.

 

MALE VOICE: Okay.

 

MALE VOICE: Okay. (APPLAUSE)

 

TERESA KRUG: We now had 116 survivors on board from 17 countries. The three most represented were Sudan, Somalia, and Nigeria. And over the next few days, we got to know as many of them as we could.

 

MALE VOICE: Two of our friends, they fell– they fell down in the water. And they were passed away. When you see someone is going to die and you can’t save– save him, it’s so hard.

 

TERESA KRUG: As I listened to their stories, I thought about the cause of Samia’s death, how ultimately it was drowning, but how there were so many other things to blame. Those who make laws, those who are in power, politicians who choose to restrict legal immigration, pushing people to immigrate through increasingly dangerous routes. Debt. Most talked about wanting to earn more money for their families.

 

FEMALE VOICE: Three times I have been on this Mediterranean Sea. I’ve been in the Mediterranean Sea. I’ve seen people drown, dead, and I’ve seen (UNINTEL) just for the sake of my kids. That’s what I’m fighting for. I’m gonna be (UNINTEL) something. Let me– me be able to provide for my kids and give them a good kind of life, you know, they– they– they– they actually deserve.

 

TERESA KRUG: Many were fleeing war from countries with lack of leadership or government.

 

MALE VOICE: I leave my country since two years. There is no freedom. People are dying. Entire ecosystem are collapsing. And the leaders, they don’t care of all these things. There is no education. Nothing. There is nothing. There is no life.

 

TERESA KRUG: Most had been separated from their families for years.

 

FEMALE VOICE: How do you think your family will feel when they– when you call them, when you tell them, “I’m safe”?

 

MALE VOICE: They will– they will feel so happy to know whe– w– where I am. They will feel so happy.

 

TERESA KRUG: Some had been trafficked into Libya and were trapped there.

 

MALE VOICE: One month, two month, three month we’re in prison. (UNINTEL) to call our family to ceremony. Finally, I don’t know no one, no more (UNINTEL). I don’t have no more.

 

TERESA KRUG: So many of them told me they’d rather brave the Mediterranean and die than stay in Libya.

 

FEMALE VOICE: Going back home is not an option. So I felt if I die, I die.

 

MALE VOICE: We know that trying to– to pass the sea, it is so dangerous. But– there’s not another way. We have– we have to do that. Maybe we are going to die or not.

 

TERESA KRUG: On deck, we met a runner from Somalia. He seemed young. Maybe early 20s. He perked up when I mentioned Abdi Bile.

 

FEMALE VOICE: Abdi Bile? You guys know Abdi Bile?

 

MALE VOICE: Yes. Abdi Bile was– near for me.

 

FEMALE VOICE: Yeah. Yeah.

 

MALE VOICE: Every day I will (UNINTEL) exercise.

 

FEMALE VOICE: Because of Abdi Bile?

 

MALE VOICE: Yes. (LAUGH)

 

FEMALE VOICE: He’s a great runner. (LAUGH)

 

MALE VOICE: Yes.

 

FEMALE VOICE: Yeah.

 

MALE VOICE: Good running. (UNINTEL).

 

FEMALE VOICE: So you ran in– in your hometown?

 

MALE VOICE: Yes.

 

FEMALE VOICE: In Somalia, you ran?

 

MALE VOICE: Yes. Before when I– when I was young. I was making training. Now still I wish to success marathon.

 

FEMALE VOICE: Run a marathon. Yeah. (LAUGH) Wow. But you were in Libya for six years.

 

MALE VOICE: Yeah. Six years.

 

FEMALE VOICE: Oh, my gosh. That’s a long, long time.

 

MALE VOICE: Libya, my brain was (UNINTEL) in the six years.

 

TERESA KRUG: In the years since Samia left Somalia in 2010, it’s continued to be hard for Somalis to immigrate legally. So after fleeing an unstable situation at home, he was forced to take a similar route as Samia. He told us about spending a full year underground in a Libyan prison with hundreds of people, never seeing the sun, and about the six years he spent trying to escape the country.

 

MALE VOICE: Six years when I staying in Libya. I’m not making an exercise. But I w– want to try.

 

FEMALE VOICE: You want to run again.

 

MALE VOICE: Yeah.

 

FEMALE VOICE: In Europe.

 

MALE VOICE: Try. Try. Try is the best.

 

FEMALE VOICE: Try is the best.

 

MALE VOICE: When I was afraid of something, I would go there, talk myself, say, “You– you will do it. You will do it. You will do it.” Then I will do it.

 

TERESA KRUG: This whole time I thought Samia was pursuing a singular dream. And, yes, she was literally an Olympian. But every single person on this boat had big dreams. Everyone had a reason for leaving home, leaving everything behind in pursuit of a better life, in pursuit of dignity.

 

TERESA KRUG: We spoke to one more survivor, the only Somali woman on board. She told us she was making this journey for her brother back home, so that she can pay for his education, his future. In Libya, she went through absolute hell. Physical violence, sexual violence. And then she got on a boat. Like everyone, she was almost overcome by the waves and then was stuck on that oil platform for days.

 

FEMALE VOICE: We’re glad that you’re safe here.

 

FEMALE VOICE: Oh. I’m happy. I’m happy. I’m happy. I’m happy. Now I’m happy. (UNINTEL). Everything is good. I win.

 

FEMALE VOICE: You win. I love that.

 

FEMALE VOICE: You win. (LAUGH) When you saw these boats coming, what did you think?

 

FEMALE VOICE: Number one, I’m feeling win. I’m win. I (UNINTEL). Thank you.

 

FEMALE VOICE: It’s the morning of Monday, March 23rd. And for the last few hours, they’ve been disembarking the survivors.

 

TERESA KRUG: After a few days with the survivors on board, the Ocean Viking docked at a port in Northern Italy. There’s a whole process that happens once the ship and the survivors finally get to Europe. We watched it unfold over several hours.

 

FEMALE VOICE: There is quite a number of authorities outside. There’s the Red Cross, the port authorities, police. And– yeah. They’re getting medical checks. They are receiving new clothing. We asked the crew on the SOS Méditerranée what happens next and it sounds like some of the details are kind of fuzzy.

 

FEMALE VOICE: But in theory, it sounds like th– they will be in the hands of the Red Cross– for at least some period. And then, presumably, a lot of them or all of them will be looking to file for asylum or find other ways to be able to stay in Europe long term.

 

TERESA KRUG: After getting to know some of these survivors over the past few days and hearing their stories, it was surreal to watch them step off the boat one by one, get into vans, and be driven away.

 

FEMALE VOICE: There’s been some moments when I had to just sort of disappear. It’s a lot to take in.

 

TERESA KRUG: In this moment, I knew that as wars continue around the globe, as climate change makes more places unlivable, as economic hardship pushes people out of their homelands, the crew of the Ocean Viking would continue to see people take this dangerous journey and they’d continue to see more people die.

 

TERESA KRUG: But we stood with the crew and waved goodbye as the survivors were driven off to an uncertain future. But at least for right now, safe. Before I leave you, I want to share one more story of Samia. It happened on one of our last days together in Somaliland before she moved to Ethiopia.

 

TERESA KRUG: During the course of her time in Somaliland, Samia had convinced some of my female students to jog around the compound with her. Now it was her turn to encourage me. I had run track and field in high school. Middle and long distance. But I never enjoyed it like Samia did.

 

TERESA KRUG: Still, the idea of running alongside an Olympian was exciting. And so after some mild protesting, I joined Samia outside the school’s compound, ready to run around the dusty, unpaved path, roughly the length of one lap of a track. She was in the best mood, running, coaching.

 

TERESA KRUG: This is where she shined. Through gestures and broken English and Somali, she got me to agree to run several laps. She was aiming for four laps and wanted me to join her the whole time. I think we counted down. Three, two, one. Maybe we just began.

 

TERESA KRUG: To a casual bystander, you could have been forgiven for thinking that Samia was only just a little faster than me. She stayed near me, just slightly ahead as we rounded each corner. But there on the track with her, it was a different story.

 

TERESA KRUG: I struggled from the beginning, while she had lightness to her. On more than one occasion, I motioned that I wanted to stop. But Samia wasn’t having it. Laughing, she slowed her own pace, knowing that if I lost sight of her, I would give up.

 

TERESA KRUG: Finally, at the one lap mark, I slowed to a stop. Still running, she twisted around to encourage me to keep going. I still remember her facing beaming back at me, trying to tease me into continuing. But I didn’t. I waved her on. And after hesitating to see if I changed my mind, she sped off.