The migrant rescue ship Sea-Eye 4 is heading for Sicily with nearly 30 people on board who were rescued at sea while attempting to make the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean, the German NGO Sea-Eye said on Friday.
Despite being refused permission to dock in Italy by the coastguard, the crew are attempting to bring the migrants to safety as there are young children and two heavily pregnant women on board in need of medical attention.
The crew found the migrants drifting in the central Mediterranean in an overcrowded wooden boat on Wednesday. They had set off from Libya in good weather, but conditions subsequently worsened.
Migrants and refugees fleeing war and poverty often set out from Libya and Tunisia, hoping to reach Italy via the Mediterranean. However, many run into difficulties during the perilous crossing. So far this year nearly 1,100 migrants have died during a crossing attempt, according to the UN.
NGO-run migrant rescue boats are a divisive issue in Italy, which has taken in 39,600 migrants so far this year alone, almost twice as many as in the same period last year.
The Italian authorities often refuse rescue craft permission to dock in its ports, and when they do grant it, the authorities frequently detain the vessel afterwards for breaches of minor regulations, widely seen as a way to temporarily prevent the boats from undertaking further rescue operations
