There’s a lot happening behind the scenes that we hope to share with you very soon. The things we can tell you about? Aside from what’s in this update, we’ve got boots on the ground in southern Tunisia, we’re talking to refugees in Italy, and we have information coming in from a range of sources — including lawyers, experts, Ghost Boat families… and you.

This Just In

dangersquirrel digs into the weather question again, and brings up some new questions for Yafet and the families. Important to note: “June 28, 2014 was the first night of the new moon, meaning it was pitch black the nights of June 27, 28 and 29, 2014, making sea travel particularly dangerous.”

Remember yesterday’s update about the Nigerian man who had crossed the Med around the same time as the Ghost Boat? Jan Pairsh, who lives nearby, is planning to locate him.

And we’re starting to make progress towards some more Tigrinya translation, including help from Senait Yohannes, who says two of her cousins vanished on the Ghost Boat.

Worth reading

The “Left to Die Boat” — an investigation by research group Forensic Architecture — is indirectly related to Ghost Boat, but incredibly informative. The group was able to assemble evidence showing how 63 refugees died after two weeks drifting in a heavily-trafficked NATO maritime surveillance area off the Libyan coast in 2011.

Morsels

Mali asked why “We hear of migration north but not much to the rest of Africa.”(One perspective: there is plenty of movement inside Africa, but it’s complicated and legally perilous.) Peter Schafer shared some stories about his own time in Eritrea. You can now read Episode One and the Ghost Boat Primer in Italian, thanks to Monica Cainarca, Martino Galliolo and friends. And if things work out, you’ll be able to hear Eric talk about the project on NPR’s Weekend Edition on Saturday.

Your 10-minute task

Here’s a quick bit of help that could really make a difference to the investigation. Please take a few minutes this weekend to look for reports of boat incidents in the Mediterranean in June and July 2014. If you find anything — anything at all — please post whatever details you found on Medium and tag it “Ghost Boat.”

Places to start:
• Watch the Med’s index of reports
• Googling media from Italy, Malta, Tunisia and Libya and in English
• NGO reports such as Amnesty’s Lives Adrift

In particular we’re interested in identifying the type of boat most likely used to transport 250 people, and where similar boats were found.

Onward.

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