The Mediterranean Sea is a crossroads of crises. The deadliest migratory route in the world, a hotspot of biodiversity loss, an energy basin still too dependent on fossil fuels. Faced with these epochal challenges, the architecture and design studio NAB has imagined a solution as bold as it is visionary. Is called MAR (Mediterranean Alliance Rescue), and is a network of floating multifunction platforms designed to rescue migrants, protect the marine ecosystem and produce renewable energy.
A project that redesigns the future of the Mediterranean, proposing an integrated response to the emergencies that afflict this sea so crucial for our planet.
Islands of hope
Driven by Nicolas Abdelkader, the MAR project is conceived as a grid covering the entire Mediterranean basin, on which platforms are strategically positioned to each serve an area of 70 kilometers in diameter. In this way, rescue teams can operate throughout the Mediterranean Sea without leaving any area uncovered, considerably multiplying the possibilities of assisting potential migrants and bringing them to safety.
On board the platforms, medical teams can monitor the health of survivors from the moment of rescue until they disembark on land. Each platform is self-sufficient from an energy point of view. It has 150 beds, as well as a dining room, showers, a command and research room, warehouses for equipment and food, and several external pontoons for rest. Their geometry and mooring system are designed to minimize the environmental impact on the seabed.
Not just migrants: energy and biodiversity
MAR's support platforms are designed to be versatile, depending on their position on the grid. Those closest to the coast are designed to generate low-carbon electricity and offer economic development prospects. As? In different ways. For example, transforming hydraulic energy into mechanical energy which is then converted into electrical energy by an alternator.
Depending on the intensity of marine currents in the areas where they are located, these multifunctional backup and power generation platforms are located in territorial waters, to ultimately supply cities and existing coastal infrastructure.
Studio NAB has positioned the migrant rescue platforms further offshore, to also play a role in ecological restoration and scientific and oceanographic research. With the aim of preserving and generating biodiversity, they contribute to repopulating fish fauna by creating nurseries and refuges for adult and young fish. They are also a scientific tool for observing marine protected and unprotected areas, and for predicting, inventorying and monitoring marine biodiversity.
Addressing social and ecological crises in the Mediterranean
MAR is a research initiative which, as I was saying, was born from an observation. A dramatic observation: the Mediterranean is the scene of one of the largest migratory, ecological and energy crises of modern times, each of which requires urgent intervention. It is the deadliest migrant shipping route in the world, an area where human rights and fundamental freedoms are violated often, and with impunity. The risk of shipwreck and death at sea for migrants and refugees has never been higher due to conflicts that accelerate departures from coasts at an alarming rate, and the flagrant lack of ships to handle rescue efforts.
In just over a decade, the Mediterranean has transformed into a veritable sea of blood, with 29.589 deaths and disappearances recorded since 2014, according to IOM data. A staggering figure that is actually much higher, as many migrants disappear without a trace. In particular, in cases of people missing at sea or in shipwrecks without survivors. Hundreds of remains not connected to any known shipwreck periodically turn up on the coasts. Too many people who are victims of brutal trafficking and treated like goods are fleeing conflicts, poverty and environmental disasters.
The Mediterranean Sea is also experiencing one of the largest biodiversity losses in the world, with 40% of marine species considered to be in decline (source: RED 2020, Plan Bleu). The causes? Many: navigation, overfishing, offshore drilling, tourism, artificialization of the coast and seabed, coastal landfills, marine pollution, microplastics, underwater noise, oil spills and hazardous materials. A catastrophe, because the Mediterranean Sea it is home to 17.000 known marine species, or 18% of the world's total. 78% of assessed fish stocks are overexploited, while marine predators have declined by 41%. 9% of the marine area is officially protected, but only 10% of these sites implement management plans.
An energy basin to be decarbonised
Migrants and biodiversity are two sides of a triangle which in the Mediterranean includes a third side. This sea is also one of the busiest shipping routes in the world, with 17% of the world's tanker capacity and 26 million cruise passengers per year. Not to mention the 360 million tourists who are largely concentrated in the Mediterranean basin during the summer months and in the coastal areas, generating a gigantic amount of pollution harmful to the entire marine ecosystem.
A boiling tub, surrounded by a population that is expected to increase by around 2050 million people by 140 with a total demand for primary energy that is expected to reach 1.404 million tonnes of oil equivalent. That's a 67% increase for southern countries alone.
The current energy mix of the Mediterranean is composed only 15% from renewable energy, of which almost 60% is used to produce electricity. The basin's energy system is not yet on track to reach the level of decarbonization needed to meet the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement.
The current energy mix is not very diversified and should urgently increase its share of renewable energy as the countries of the Mediterranean basin continue on the road to electrification and the abandonment of traditional hydrocarbons (oil, natural gas and coal) in favor of energy sources that require fewer fossil resources. First of all, it is good to remind some diehards of fossil, renewable energies such as solar, wind and hydroelectric.
Migrants, environment, energy: MAR is a vision for the future of the Mediterranean
The MAR project is obviously subject to observations, and as I am writing I am already imagining the possible criticisms (constructive, or even stupid) that I will read on Futuro Prossimo's social channels. Take it as it comes: it is the attempt, always perfectible, to combine the rescue of migrants, the protection of biodiversity and the production of renewable energy.
Multi-system crisis, multi-function platforms. Proposing an integrated response to the crises affecting this crucial sea is perfectly logical.
I repeat, it must always be evaluated and possibly perfected. A project of this kind requires a massive coordination and investment effort at an international level. We don't think it's infeasible, though. Not in the era in which we see billions of euros going up in smoke due to various wars. Faced with the urgency and scale of the challenges at stake, we cannot afford not to explore courageous and visionary solutions like MAR.
Rethinking the future of the Mediterranean is rethinking our common future. A future in which solidarity, sustainability and innovation can and must chart new routes.
