Italian Coast Guard has detained rescue vessel Louise Michel, in Lampedusa, an Italian island between Malta and Tunisia, on Sunday 26th March, after rescuing 178 refugees and migrants on March 25th.
According to the law, in this regard NGO rescue ships operating in the central Mediterranean must proceed to safe harbor the moment they receive permission to do so and in no way carry out additional rescues thereafter.
As explained, the law is aimed, above all, at not overloading the concession permits and thus facilitating the management of new arrivals.
However, rescue organizations have argued that the new Italian law violates United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). According to IMO, UNCLOS was adopted in 1982. It lays down a comprehensive regime of law and order in the world’s oceans and seas establishing rules governing all uses of the oceans and their resources.
Italian Coast Guard has assigned the port of Trapani, Sicily, as destination for the Louise Michel. The coast guard claimed that at the time it was already on its way to assist the three other boats at the time.
