Overview
- After rescuing 93 people in the central Mediterranean, the German-flagged NGO vessel steered to Trapani instead of the more than 1,100-kilometre-assigned port of Carrara.
- Italian authorities had refused entry to the Sicilian harbour, but the crew declared a state of emergency citing worsening medical conditions and heavy seas.
- Nine people, including a two-year-old, were medically evacuated by the Italian Coast Guard, and a youth court later ordered 23 minors and family members to disembark.
- Sea-Watch says those remaining on board suffered seasickness, exhaustion and fuel-burn injuries, with a pregnant woman among the cases requiring urgent care.
- Germany’s human-rights commissioner backed the NGO’s claim to the nearest safe port under maritime law, as critics note Italy’s broader practice of assigning distant ports that some courts have later ruled unlawful.