Pia Klemp

Pia Klemp (born 10 October 1983) is a German biologist and human rights activist, who, between 2011 and 2017, worked for the Sea Shepherd organization to participate in many international operations to protect sea animals. Between 2016 and 2018 she commanded two rescue ships in the Mediterranean Sea for the German non-government organizations (NGOs) Jugend Rettet and Sea-Watch during the ongoing European migrant crisis. Her ships rescued about 14,000 migrants from drowning. Klemp was responsible for the rescue of more than a thousand migrants. One of her ships, Iuventa, was seized by Italian authorities in 2017, who accused her of cooperating with human traffickers, and claimed many of those saved were at no imminent risk of death. If convicted, she would have faced 20 years in prison. Her newer ship, Sea-Watch 3 was prevented from departing its dock by Maltese authorities for several months in 2018.