BARCAROLE

General information

Course/Position

Latest news

Drone in vicinity - migrants rescued

The 'Barcarole' continued to make its way across the Mediterranean heading towards Gaza although it had a brief scare on the night of June 3. The Freedom Flottllla group put out an urgent appeal for help after it detected a drone approximately 40 nautical miles outside of Greek waters. Te drone was briefly overhead and then departed. Later it was confirmed it was a Heron surveillance drone from the Greek Coast Guard. Greece, which regularly patrolled the region as it was monitoring movements especially because of the strong influx of small migrant boats in the region. The group of a dozen people aboard the 'Barcarole' includes the Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, actor Liam Cunningham, and the member of the European Parliament Rima Hassan. The sailing ship will not be allowed to dock in the Gaza Strip. Israeli security authorities have decided, and the group is also not allowed to approach the sealed-off Palestinian territory, it was reported on June 4. They do not want to set a precedent. On June 5, the Defense Minister Israel Katz and high-ranking army officials are scheduled to discuss further steps. it is possible that the ship could be towed to the port of Ashdod and the activists on board arrested there. Israeli authorities have also previously denied activists permission to dock their ships in Gaza. The same day, the yacht received a distress call from a vessel likely departing Libya. The crew diverted course for about two hours to assist. A Libyan patrol boat arrived, and at least four migrants boarded the boat. In the meantime, two merchant ships headed to the site.

Israel plans to stop aid ship

Israel plans to stop the ' Barcarole' (Madleen), which is trying to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza and is bringing aid to the enclave, maintaining the 'maritime security zone' around Gaza. The ship left Sicily and is part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), a network of activists that has previously sailed to Gaza on similar missions. There are 12 people on board, including Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, Irish actor Liam Cunningham and French-Palestinian MEP Rima Hassan. According to the FFC, it is a peaceful act of civil disobedience. The crew is trained in non-violent resistance. The yacht is carrying urgently needed aid, such as baby food, rice, flour, diapers, sanitary towels, medical supplies and water supply kits. The organizers want to draw attention to the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.

NGO ship left Catania in next attempt to deliver supplies to Gaza

One month after the first attempt to sail to Gaza was stopped when the 'Consicence' was attacked, the activist group Freedom Flotilla Coalition has launched a second attempt with the 'Barcarole', named 'Madleen' for Gaza’s first and only fisherwoman, which set out from the port of Catania on June 1, 2025, with the declared intent to challenge Israel’s ongoing blockade of Gaza as “a peaceful act of civil resistance. All the volunteers and crew aboard the Madleen are trained in nonviolence. They are sailing unarmed", as the group said in a statement, while understanding the risk of interception by Israeli naval forces. The Coalition says they put aboard an advanced tracking system which currently shows them sailing at 5.7 knots. As such, it would take them a week to complete the 1,000-nautical mile trip to Gaza. On board, are volunteers from multiple countries, among them a member of the European Parliament Rima Hassan, climate justice activist Greta Thunberg, and according to some reports the Irish actor Liam Cunningham. The ship is carrying urgently needed supplies for the people of Gaza, including baby formula, flour, rice, diapers, women’s sanitary products, water desalination kits, medical supplies, crutches, and children’s prosthetics. Report with photo: https://maritime-executive.com/article/ngo-launches-second-attempt-to-sail-to-gaza-without-its-damaged-ship