Refugees and migrants have reportedly hijacked the Palau-flagged tanker ‘Elhiblu 1’, after the ship rescued them off the coast of Libya, Tuesday night. The Maltese navy took over control shortly after and the ship arrived in Malta Thursday morning.
The Palau-flagged tanker ‘Elhiblu 1’ picked up a total of 108 people from the water, but they took the helm when it became clear that the ship planned to take them back to Libya.
According to international sources, the ship suddenly changed course while sailing six nautical miles from Tripoli and headed north towards Malta.
Before arriving in Maltese shore, Maltese authorities said they are monitoring its progress and the ship would not be allowed to dock in Malta
UN reports have shown that migrants in Libya face huge human rights violations, including trafficking, kidnap, torture and rape.
‘These are not migrants in distress, they are pirates, they will only see Italy through a telescope‘, said Italy’s deputy Prime Minister, Matteo Salvini, whose migrants policy has attracted media attention with severe restrictions against migrants and with closure of Italy’s ports to NGO rescue boats, since he took office in June 2018.
Matteo Salvini was placed under formal investigation for potential illegal detention and kidnapping in late August, after he refused to allow more than 100 migrants to disembark the Italian Coast Guard ship ‘Ubaldo Diciotti’. However, last week Italy’s senate eventually rejected the request.
The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) expressed its concerns over the incident, with ICS Secretary General, Guy Platten, stating:
If a ship is directed to disembark rescued people in Libya, it creates a potential for conflict between the crew and desperate and frustrated people that might object to being returned. Given the numbers picked up in such large scale rescue operations, the crew of the rescuing ship can easily be outnumbered and overwhelmed. Masters of merchant ships should expect that coastal states’ search and rescue authorities will co-ordinate and provide for disembarkation in a place of safety, both for those rescued and for the seafarers involved in the rescue.
Merchant ships are still diverted by Rescue Co-ordination Centres to support large scale rescue operations in the Mediterranean, having rescued tens of thousands of people since the current crisis began in 2015.
