[2][5] Benjamin Hartmann, owner of the statement fashion label HUMAN BLOOD, officially acted as the buyer for the purchase of the fishing boat Eleonore in May 2019.
[8] According to the association's founder, Axel Steier [de], it was necessary to use a 'straw man' because the authorities were unlikely to let him or his captain register a rescue ship.
[7] Eleonore, registered as a pleasure boat, set out at the end of August 2019 for the sea area off the Libyan coast, under the command of Claus-Peter Reisch [de].
Both Italy and Malta refused requests to enter their ports, so the overcrowded rescue ship had to be supplied with food and water on the high seas.
[11] At the beginning of September, after violent thunderstorms, Reisch declared the Eleonore an emergency due to a life-threatening situation on board, and ran into the Sicilian port of Pozzallo accompanied by the Italian coast guard.