On Friday evening, the Italian Coast Guard told the Italian press that the German sea rescue vessels SEA-EYE 4 and MARE*GO have each been detained for 20 days under a new Italian law dated February 24, 2023. The law limits the number of rescue operations ships can carry out before docking at a port assigned by the Italian authorities. Both vessels rescued a total of 86 people seeking protection from unseaworthy boats last week.

According to the Italian Coast Guard, the reason for the detention of the SEA-EYE 4 is that after rescuing 17 people in the Libyan search and rescue (SAR) zone, the vessel rescued a further 32 people in the Maltese SAR zone and did not proceed to the port of Ortona immediately after carrying out the first rescue.

Additional rescues

However, the SEA-EYE 4 aborted its approach to Ortona on Tuesday evening because there was a distress call from a boat carrying more than 400 people in the Maltese SAR zone. "We cannot ignore distress calls. That's why we changed course," said Gorden Isler, chairman of Sea-Eye e. V.

Then, while searching for the 400 people, the SEA-EYE 4 received a distress call from a sailboat that had discovered 32 people on an unseaworthy boat nearby and brought the people on board to safety. Despite continuing the search for the 400 people, on Wednesday night, the boat eventually reached the Italian SAR zone on their own and were rescued from there by the Italian Coast Guard.

Sea-Eye refutes claims by the Italian Coast Guard that a patrol boat was already on its way at the time of the rescue operation carried out by the NGO. It claims that in fact, the people first had to reach the Italian SAR zone in order to receive help.

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Sea rescue continues despite difficult conditions

The detention of the ships comes after a number of successful rescue efforts from NGOs operating ships in the Mediterranean. The Italian NGO Emergency, which was able to successfully carry out a rescue operation last week, saving 29 migrants from a boat in distress, noted that they were assigned a port about 70 hours from the rescue site.

Albert Mayordomo, Life Support's head of mission commented: "It is a political choice: it is absurd to punish those who save lives on the world's deadliest migration route, the Central Mediterranean. Here, in 2023 alone, an average of almost seven people a day died and more than 5,000 people were brought back to Libyan camps by the so-called Libyan coast guard."

The rescued people had left Sabratah, Libya, on the night of June 1 and were rescued by Life Support on June 2, said the organization. They disembarked today (June 5) in the marina today after four days at sea.

"At the time of departure, we all felt a sense of hope. There were two engines on the boat. We had been told that the lights of the oil rigs were Italy, so to us all it seemed like an easy journey. Instead, within hours of departure, the first engine broke down....not even halfway through the trip," recounts an 18-year-old Gambian boy who was a passenger on the boat in distress.

Both the restrictive conditions and the risks of detention are severely obstructing sea rescue efforts in the Mediterranean as NGOs continue to carry out their life saving work in accordance with international law, however increased criminalization remains an ongoing threat, say the organizations.

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Increased criminalization of sea rescue operations

Under Italian law, the sea rescue NGOs face even harsher penalties if these incidents are repeated. If the SEA-EYE 4 were to carry out further rescues on a future mission, when the Italian Maritime Rescue Coordination Center has already assigned a port of disembarkation, high fines and a further detention for up to six months could be imposed. In addition, a rescue ship could potentially be able to be detained indefinitely according to the new Italian law.

"This law could completely shut down civilian sea rescue if the Italian authorities continue to apply it in this way. After all, we will not ignore distress calls to prevent detentions. To put us in front of this choice is inhumane and irresponsible," Isler from Sea-Eye comments.

"Punishing us now for complying with international laws is justified solely on the basis of the new Italian law, which is designed to quickly remove civilian rescue ships from the area of operation and to allow them to call at distant ports in order to reduce the arrivals of people seeking protection as much as possible," says Gorden Isler, Chairman of Sea-Eye.

Also read: International law and the criminalization of sea rescue

The seizing of the SEA-EYE 4 now prevents another rescue mission of the ship, although the current year is deadlier and more dangerous for people seeking protection than the previous five years, said Isler. "Italy's new strategy is perfidious and transparent. The long journeys to assigned ports far away will always lead us to decide on the way whether to respond to more distress calls."

Isler said that "accusations that we are breaking Italian laws" was creating the wrong impression in public. He pointed out that "even though these laws are only a few months old, this creates the public impression that our behavior is illegal. It is another reprehensible attempt to criminalize sea rescue and flight itself in order to justify ever more brutal state action," Isler continues.

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Appeal to Baerbock & German Foreign Office

On Sunday afternoon, the sea rescue organization Sea-Eye appealed to the German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and the German Foreign Office with an urgent request for help following the seizure of the Sea-Eye 4 and the ship Mare*Go operated by Zusammenland.

In a message to German Foreign Minister Baerbock and the German Foreign Office, Sea-Eye asked that they work to ensure that:

1. Civilian rescue ships are not detained for having conducted multiple rescue missions,
2. the detentions of the SEA-EYE 4 and MARE*GO [be] lifted and to refrain from fines,
3. civilian rescue ships are used optimally by Italian and Maltese authorities to save as many lives as possible,
4. the donation-funded resources of civilian sea rescue organizations are not wasted by sending ships to faraway ports in order to reduce their operating time in the Libyan and Maltese search and rescue zone
5. the Maltese rescue coordination center resumes its coordination duties for fleeing people in distress at sea, in order to avoid further fatalities.

"We have now reached a point where it is still possible to prevent all civilian rescue ships from being detained for longer periods of time in a few months because of too many rescue operations," the message to the German Foreign Office concludes.

Sea-Eye will appeal the assessment decision. The organization has 60 days to do so. However, a quick decision is unlikely, as proceedings before Italian administrative courts are complex and lengthy.

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