The coast guard said it had ordered the MV
Louise Michel ship to dock in Trapani in Sicily after it
performed an initial rescue operation in Libya's Search And
Rescue area. The ship instead went to assist migrants on three
other boats in Malta's Search And Rescue area.
The coast guard added that it was already on its way to assist
the three other boats at the time.
It ordered the Louise Michel to dock in accordance with a new
law passed in Italy this year establishing a code of conduct for
migrant charity ships, the coast guard said.
The 30-metre long, pink and white Louise Michel, named after a
French feminist anarchist, eventually docked in Lampedusa late
on Saturday with 178 migrants on board.
The coast guard said it wanted to prevent the ship from taking
too many people on board, thereby putting their safety at risk.
Local authorities on Lampedusa said their reception facilities
are now full.
The coast guard said that in the last 48 hours it had
coordinated rescue operations for 58 boats, helping a total of
more than 3,300 people.
The NGO Louise Michel said on its Twitter account that it was
told that its ship was being seized due to a violation of the
new Italian legislation and that it was ready to fight against
the decision.
"We know of dozens of boats in distress right in front of the
island at this very moment, yet we are being prevented from
assisting. This is unacceptable!" it said.
In the latest of a string of fatal incidents in recent days, at
least 29 migrants died when their two boats sank off the coast
of Tunisia as they tried to cross the Mediterranean to Italy,
the Tunisian coast guard said on Sunday.
(Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
(Photo: The MV Louise Michel, a migrants search and rescue ship
operating in the Mediterranean sea and financed by British
street artist Banksy, is seen at sea, August 29, 2020. Picture
taken August, 29, 2020. Chris Grodotzki/Sea-Watch.org Handout
via REUTERS)
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