In Italy, a conflict is brewing between private sea rescuers and the government in Rome, which issued new regulations for the use of rescue ships in the central Mediterranean at the turn of the year.

According to the non-governmental organization, the rescue ship Geo Barents, operated by "Doctors Without Borders", took 69, then 61 and finally a further 107 people from inflatable boats on board during three rescue operations off the Libyan coast between Tuesday evening and Wednesday afternoon.

The organization announced that the 237 rescued boat people included more than 80 minors and one baby.

Matthias Rub

Political correspondent for Italy, the Vatican, Albania and Malta based in Rome.

  • Follow I follow

After the first rescue operation, which the crew of the Geo Barents immediately reported to the responsible Italian sea rescue control center in accordance with the new code of conduct, the rescue ship was assigned to dock in the port of La Spezia in the north-western Italian region of Liguria.

The new regulations issued by the centre-right government under Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni stipulate that private sea rescuers must head for the assigned port immediately after a single mission.

Repeated rescue operations until the "capacity" of the rescue ships was reached would therefore hardly be possible.

However, the wording of the Code is not entirely clear here.

Multiple bets in a row are not expressly forbidden.

It is therefore eagerly awaited whether the Italian authorities will impose a fine in the case of the Geo Barents.

"Costs for missions should be increased"

Previously, private sea rescuers had adhered to the new code of conduct since the turn of the year and immediately set course for the assigned ports.

While ships of the Italian Coast Guard and the Navy with rescued boat migrants on board could continue to call at ports in Sicily or in the southern regions of Calabria and Puglia, private rescue ships were assigned to distant ports in central and northern Italy such as Ancona, Livorno or Ravenna.

The rescue ship Ocean Viking from "SOS Méditerranée" with 37 migrants on board and the Geo Barents with 73 boat people were assigned to the port of Ancona in the northern Adriatic at the beginning of January.

The port city is located more than 1,500 kilometers from the deployment site of the rescue ships off the coast of Libya and Tunisia.

The voyage through rough seas took four to five days for the two ships.

The assignment of such distant ports is "solely intended to keep our ships away from the central Mediterranean for as long as possible and to increase the cost of our operations," said Juan Matias Giles, MSF's chief of mission.

Interior Minister: Rescuers encourage migrants

The Geo Barents, whose crew defied the new instructions for the first time in the latest rescue operation, was off the east coast of Tunisia Thursday morning with the 237 migrant boats on board, heading north.

The arrival of the ship in the port of La Spezia, about 1000 kilometers away, is expected on Saturday afternoon.