A ship chartered by German NGO Jugend Rettet was blocked overnight during the night into Wednesday, in Lampedusa, by the coastguard as part of a “routine check,” amidst a new NGO protocol in Italy.
The ship, Luventa, was held overnight in the port of Lampedusa. The crew’s documents were checked before the ship is able to set sail again on Wednesday, in what Lampedusa’s port authority chief Paolo Monaco described as a “routine check.”
Italy’s new code of conduct for NGOs that run migrant rescue missions in the Mediterranean was signed by just three of the nine organisations on Monday. Some of the aid groups have criticised the new rules as making it more difficult for them to save lives. Jugend Rettet was among the organisations who refused to sign the protocol.