The private rescue ship Sea-Watch 4 has been granted permission to dock in Sicily having waited for a safe port assignment since Monday. It has been carrying around 460 migrants rescued from distress in the Mediterranean in the course of the past week.
Libya's coast guard has threatened to hijack the privately-run Sea-Watch 4 rescue vessel over the weekend. The vessel reportedly was in international waters at the time of the incident.
A judge in Agrigento has shelved a case against Sea-Watch 3 migrant rescue ship skipper Artuto Centore for allegedly favoring illegal immigration over the landing of 47 migrants on Lampedusa in 2019.
The 406 migrants and refugees currently aboard the Sea-Watch 3 will be allowed to disembark in Pozzallo, Italy. They had been rescued in the Mediterranean on Sunday and Monday; several migrants have since been evacuated from the ship due to medical emergencies.
Late on Tuesday, October 19, the private rescue yacht Nadir was able to disembark the 34 migrants it had rescued almost two days before. Another 412 migrants are still waiting on board the Sea-Watch 3 ship to be assigned a safe port at which to disembark.
Over the past few days nearly 190 migrants have been rescued by private rescue ships. Protesters who formed a human chain at the weekend, stretching from the North Sea to Italy, have demanded a coordinated European sea rescue operation.
The reconnaissance aircraft Seabird filmed the sinking of a migrant boat off the coast of Libya on August 27. The harrowing footage shows people trying to cling for their lives to the keel of an overturned boat.
The disembarkation of more than 800 migrants from the rescue ships Ocean Viking and Sea-Watch 3 began at the weekend. Ocean Viking is hoping to complete the process on Monday, August 9. The migrants were on board the ships since the end of July.
Survivors rescued by the NGO ship SOS Mediterranee say that they had been subjected to violence during their journey towards Europe.They say that had spent three days at sea prior to the rescue and had run out of water and fuel shortly after the journey began.
Three men were found dead on board a boat carrying 81 other migrants that was rescued by Malta early on Wednesday. The charity Sea-Watch has claimed that authorities purposely delayed the rescue.
Italian prosecutors said they are seeking government permission to investigate footage purportedly showing the Libyan coast guard firing shots at a migrant boat in the Mediterranean Sea. The video was filmed by rescue organization Sea-Watch, who also filed the complaint.
Humanitarian rescue organizations are accusing a supply ship, the Vos Triton, of participating in what they call an "illegal pushback" to Libya, in which migrants rescued from a drifting boat were handed over to the Libyan coast guard.