Enlarge image
Private sea rescue ship: »Sea Watch 4« (archive)
Photo: JOSE JORDAN / AFP
The German sea rescue ship "Sea Watch 4" entered the port of Porto Empedocle in Sicily on Saturday with 129 people rescued in the Mediterranean Sea - after having had to wait on the water for days.
The authorities assigned the Berlin organization the port in the south of the Italian Mediterranean island on Saturday.
Because of the bad weather, the ship could not continue to Trapani as originally planned.
Sea rescuers got into a storm
The sea rescuers had taken people from two boats in the Mediterranean since last weekend.
After that, they had to wait several days for safe harbor assignment and got caught in a storm.
more on the subject
Refugees in Sicily: German rescue ship with 440 migrants is allowed to dock
Flight to Europe: Dozens of people die in boat accidents in the Mediterranean
»Sea-Watch 3«: Italian judiciary drops last allegation against Carola Rackete
"Sea-Eye 4": Italian authorities arrest German rescue ship
Like other private organizations, the ships of the private German organization »Sea Watch« flying the German flag are regularly on the move in the central Mediterranean to rescue people fleeing from North Africa towards Europe, who often set off on the journey in unseaworthy boats do.
In Italy, the operations of civil sea rescuers are controversial;
especially right-wing parties like the Lega want them to take people somewhere else.
Critics also believe that it would be better if criminal smugglers didn't bring so many people into distress at sea in the first place.
The sea rescuers counter that they strictly adhered to international laws and saved people from drowning.
fok/dpa
