Germany and Italy Clash Over Migrant Rescue Ships and Returns

The detention of a German rescue ship in Italy has reignited a long-running dispute over the role of private vessels rescuing migrants in the Mediterranean. Italian authorities detained the Sea-Watch 5 for 45 days last weekend and fined the German organisation operating it €7,500.

On 13 August, the vessel rescued six people in the Mediterranean and, according to Sea-Watch, encountered an unidentified armed boat and documented the deaths of eight people.

The Italian Interior Ministry said the vessel was detained for failing to inform the Libyan coastguard about the rescue operation.

Sea-Watch said it planned to appeal against the detention, probably in the coming week.

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Messmer added that the Libyan coastguard was present at the scene following the rescue and had communicated with the Sea-Watch crew by radio.

The case is the latest in a long-running dispute between Italy and German sea rescue organisations operating in the Mediterranean.

Critics of the NGOs, including politicians from Germany’s conservative CDU/CSU alliance and the Alternative for Germany (AfD), have accused rescue organisations of encouraging dangerous Mediterranean crossings and indirectly assisting people-smuggling networks.

The organisations reject such accusations and argue that their operations save lives on one of the world’s deadliest migration routes.

A central point of contention is where people rescued at sea should be taken. NGO vessels generally bring those they rescue to European ports rather than returning them to Libya, which the United Nations does not consider a safe place for migrants to be returned to.

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The dispute over civilian rescue operations in the central Mediterranean dates back more than a decade.

Sea-Watch was founded in 2015, shortly after Italy ended its large-scale naval search-and-rescue mission Mare Nostrum in October 2014. It was succeeded by Triton, an EU border operation with a more limited search-and-rescue role.

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Since Giorgia Meloni became prime minister in October 2022, Italy has tightened the rules governing private rescue vessels.

Under legislation introduced in 2023, commonly known as the Piantedosi decree, rescue vessels are required to head to an assigned port without delay after carrying out a rescue. NGOs have criticised the policy because the ports assigned by Italian authorities can be hundreds of kilometres from the rescue area, preventing ships from remaining at sea to respond to further emergencies.

Italy tightened the rules again in December 2024, extending potential liability beyond the captain to shipowners and operators in cases of repeated violations involving the same vessel within five years.

According to Sea-Watch, Italian authorities have detained civilian rescue ships 44 times since 2023, keeping them out of operation for a combined total of more than 960 days.

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Alongside Sea-Watch, Sea-Eye, SOS Humanity and the smaller RESQSHIP operate their own vessels in the central Mediterranean. Several ships, including Sea-Watch 5 and Humanity 1, also serve as alliance ships for United4Rescue, a charity founded in 2019 that raises and distributes donations.

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