Advertisement

A migrant rescue boat funded by renowned street artist Banksy was seized by Italian authorities in the middle of a life-saving mission

The Louise Michel rescue vessel with people rescued on board, including pregnant women and children, and 1 dead body, after 2 rescue operations on the high seas in the past days, 70 miles south west Malta, Central Mediterranean sea, Saturday, Aug. 29, 2020.
A rescue ship commissioned by street artist Banksy seen in the Mediterranean sea on Aug. 29, 2020.Associated Press
  • A migrant rescue ship commissioned by renowned artist Banksy was detained in Italy on Sunday.

  • Italy's coast guard said the ship did not follow orders to dock in Sicily.

  • The coast guard did not immediately return Insider's request for comment.

Italy's coast guard seized a rescue boat funded by the world-renowned street artist, Banksy, after the coast guard said the ship disobeyed its orders to go to Sicily after conducting a rescue mission on Sunday, according to a report.

Banksy is a world-renowned anonymous street artist who is famous for their political artwork. One of Banksy's most popular creations, a canvas painting of a young girl releasing a balloon shaped like a heart, called "Balloon Girl," sold for $1.4 million at a 2018 London auction. It then immediately fell into a shredder hidden in the bottom of the painting's frame live during the auction. That's Bansky for you.

Bansky commissioned the seized rescue boat — named the Louise Michel after a French feminist and anarchist — in 2020. He then spray-painted the 100-foot-long hull bright pink. The ship is a retired French Navy boat that is "customized to perform search and rescue" missions and now  primarily operates in the Mediterranean Sea.

"It might seem incredible there is a need for a private emergency vessel in one of Europe's busiest waterways, but there is," the boat's website says.

Hundreds of thousands of migrants have attempted to cross the Mediterranean Sea in recent years, fleeing conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa and beyond. Human Rights Watch calls the crossing the deadliest route for migrants and asylum seekers in the world. Those that survive the crossing often end up in Italy or Greece.

The Italian coast guard said it ord erd Banksy's boat to dock in Trapani in Sicily after performing rescue missions off the coast of Libya, but the boat instead continued on to help other migrants found on three other boats off the coast of Malta.

Italy's coast guard did not immediately return Insider's req est for comment on Sunday.

The coast guard said it was already on the way to assist the three other boats, and ordered the Bansky boat to dock in accordance with a new Italian law that establishes a "code of conduct for migrant charity ships," Reuters reported.

When the boat docked late Saturday in Lampedusa, an island off Italy's southern coast, it arrived with 178 migrants on board, filling the island's reception facilities, the outlet reported.

A Twitter account for the boat said that 24 hours after the boat's detainment the coast guard still had not provided them with an "official written justification for the detention."

"We know of dozens of boats in distress right in front of the island at this very moment, yet we are being prevented from assisting," the statement said. "This is unacceptable!"

According to Reuters, Italy's coast guard said it wanted to keep the boat from picking up too many people and potentially putting their safety at risk. The coast guard said it had coordinated rescue operations for 58 boats, helping more than 3,300 people over the past 48 hours, according to the report.

Read the original article on Insider