Search and rescue vessel Sea-Watch 3 remains blocked in Malta’s ports in spite of confirmation by the Dutch government that its registration is in order, Sea-Watch said in statement.
The ship has been blocked in port for almost one month as the government played for time with flimsy arguments, while many people were in distress at sea with no suitable rescue assets in place.
Sea-Watch urged the Maltese government to stop its blockade of Mediterranean rescue efforts, putting human lives at risk.
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The organisation said:
“The detainment of our ship for random investigations without any indication of wrongdoing was a farce from the very beginning. We are still blocked from leaving port, although Dutch inspectors requested by Malta have confirmed the accuracy of our registration.
“This is clearly not about paperwork, it’s a political campaign against the civil sea rescue fleet. From today on, Maltese authorities will have to take full responsibility for every dead person, that could have been saved but wasn’t,” Sea-Watch chairman Johannes Bayer said.
The Sea-Watch 3 has been denied permission to leave the harbour…
