The Open Arms ship on its arrival at Sicily's Porto Empedocle after having disembarked the 81 migrants onboard on Lampedusa | Photo: ANSA/PASQUALE MONTANA LAMPO
The Open Arms ship on its arrival at Sicily's Porto Empedocle after having disembarked the 81 migrants onboard on Lampedusa | Photo: ANSA/PASQUALE MONTANA LAMPO

Will the Spanish rescue boat Open Arms be fined for its latest rescue operations? The Spanish deputy prime minister has criticized the Spanish-flagged ship, stressing that it had not been authorized to conduct rescue operations.

"The Open Arms doesn't have a permit to rescue," Spain's Deputy Prime Minister Carmen Calvo told Spanish radio on Wednesday. 

In April, the Open Arms ship was authorised to transport humanitarian material but not to conduct rescue operations. Before that, the ship had been blocked for about 100 days in the port of Barcelona. The ship was allowed to leave the port on the condition that it would be subjected to a fine of between 300,000 and 900,000 euros if it were to resume its search and rescue operations off Libya.

Will the ship be fined? No comment!

Calvo noted that the captain of the ship was aware of this lack of authorisation. 

"Due to the circumstances, however, (acting Prime Minister) Pedro Sanchez decided that there was the need to find a humanitarian way to get out of that situation," Calvo told the Cadena Sur radio station. 

On the possibility that Madrid may fine Open Arms for its activities, Calvo did not comment beyond saying that "we are all subject to the law." 

Madrid reiterates willingness to take in migrants 

Deputy Prime Minister Calvo also talked about the future of the migrants who were rescued by the Open Arms. She said that the Spanish Navy ship that left Tuesday for Lampedusa will remain close to the island while waiting to take in the refugees that Spain has agreed to take in back. 

The Audaz ship was originally supposed to pick up the migrants from the Open Arms who had been stuck off Lampedusa for almost three weeks. But then the migrants were authorized to disembark on the Italian island on Tuesday evening. So now the Audaz will transfer the Open Arms migrants that Madrid pledged to take in as part of a distribution accord signed with five other European countries.