The German rescue ship Aurora, operated by the sea rescue organization Sea-Watch, has been blocked by Italian authorities in the Sicilian port of Pozzallo. On September 6, the ship’s crew rescued 75 people from an unseaworthy boat in international waters and brought them safely ashore on September 7. The decision on the length of the blockade and the amount of the financial penalty is still pending at this time.
On Saturday, the crew of the Aurora discovered an unseaworthy boat in international waters and brought all 75 people safely on board. In close communication with the maritime rescue coordination center in Rome, the ship belonging to the maritime rescue organization Sea-Watch headed for the port of Pozzallo, where the rescued people were able to go ashore on September 7. The rescue ship had previously been assigned to the port of Reggio di Calabria, but would not have been able to reach it safely due to low fuel capacities. The Maritime Rescue Coordination Center in Rome therefore changed the assigned port to Pozzallo on the morning of September 7.
The ship was officially detained claiming that the rescue ship Aurora could have reached the port of Reggio Calabria, contrary to its own statements and the decision made by the rescue coordination center in Rome on September 7. The length of the blockade and the amount of the financial penalty will be determined by the prefecture in Agrigento in the coming days.
“The detention is based on flimsy grounds and is part of a political strategy designed to make sea rescue impossible and endanger human lives,” explains Isabell Nohr, head of operations on the Aurora. “Instead of ensuring compliance with international obligations, the Italian government is blocking rescue ships and trying by all means to prevent people fleeing their countries from reaching Europe.”
The Aurora was already blocked in July after rescuing 70 people, but was later released by court order. With this renewed detention, the ship joins a growing number of civil rescue ships that are being prevented from leaving Italian shores. Since the beginning of 2023, civil rescue ships have been detained more than 30 times by Italian authorities for periods ranging from 15 to 60 days.
Additionally, just recently, EU-funded Libyan militias fired on the crew of the rescue ship Ocean Viking, operated by the organization SOS Mediterannée, in the Mediterranean. The escalation of violence at sea shows that the repression of civil rescue operations is systematic, politically motivated, and deliberately accepts the death of human beings.
