ROME (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st August, 2019) Italian authorities has seized the rescue ship belonging to Spanish charity Open Arms, which is carrying about 80 migrants, that has been anchored near Italian island of Lampedusa for the past several days, media reported on Tuesday.
Earlier in the day, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said that a naval vessel had been sent to provide aid for migrants and bring them to the port of Palma on the Spanish island of Mallorca.
The vessel was seized by order of the prosecutor for the Sicilian city of Agrigento, Luigi Patronaggio, after he visited the ship along with police and doctors, Italy's TGCOM24 broadcaster reported. He described the situation as explosive in the light of several attempts made by migrants to jump off the ship and swim to the Italian coast.
All 79 migrants who are reportedly on board of the ship are expected to be removed. There used to be more than 100 migrants, but some of them jumped into the water earlier in the day to in an attempt to swim to Lampedusa. They were eventually picked up by the Italian Coast Guard.
The migrants, who hail from Africa, have been on board the rescue vessel for 19 days. Despite the fact that the ship was only a few hundred feet away from the Italian island, the authorities have not allowed it to dock.
On Sunday, Spain offered the vessel to dock at its port in Algeciras, but the charity said that the humanitarian situation on the ship was so dire that the passengers and crew would not be able to make the five-day journey there.
