The ships are on the Libyan coast. They are in radio contact with the smugglers. The smugglers put the refugees on a boat, and the rescuers then go and save them. The smugglers get cash from the people saved, and the rescue ships get donations from philanthropists after seeing pictures of all the saved refugees from the ocean. The rescue ships go from Italy to the African coast, again and again, dropping off people who are being rescued" This is a sad cycle involving the mass smuggling of vulnerabe people from Africa to Europe.