International law requires that everyone rescued at sea shall be disembarked and delivered to a ‘place of safety’. However, neither the treaties that establish this requirement nor any other treaty define what is meant by ‘place of safety’. When refugees and migrants are rescued at sea considerations of international human rights law and international refugee law as well as of international law against transnational organised crime are of principal concern. This article examines the concept of 'place of safety' and argues that it needs to be interpreted in the wider context of international law, so that other relevant and applicable rules of international law are taken into account. The article provides an exploratory discussion of the interpretation of the concept of 'place of safety', seen particularly against the background that many of those rescued at sea are refugees and migrants. It also comprises discussions of the duty to rescue those in distress at sea, the basic rules on interpretation of treaties and the legal framework for rescue of migrants at sea. The analysis is illustrated by references to Australian legislation, state practice and case law.