By Magdalena Mis
LONDON, June 14 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – A smartphone application that allows users to scan the Mediterranean for boats in distress is being tested by a migrant rescue service, which hopes that crowdsourced information will help it save more people.
The I SEA App, available on iTunes, divides a satellite image of the sea route migrants are taking into millions of small plots which are, in turn, assigned to registered users.
Each user then monitors their plot through the app and can send an alert to the Malta-based Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) and the authorities if they spot potential trouble.
After receiving an alert, the authorities analyse the image and launch a rescue mission if necessary.
“The idea is that with more people getting interested you can cover bigger areas of the sea,” Ian Ruggier, MOAS head of operations, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
“It allows people to see that they are contributing towards saving lives. (The success) will depend on the popularity of the app,” he said by phone from Malta.
