Italy provides help to migrant rescue ship

Seaworthiness compromised when vessel took 200 aboard

ROME — The Italian coast guard stepped in Saturday to offer partial relief for the Louise Michel, a charity migrant rescue ship sponsored by British street artist Banksy.

The Louise Michel issued a mayday call late on Friday from the Mediterranean Sea, saying that after rescuing more than 200 migrants, its seaworthiness was compromised from having too many people on board.

A Twitter account for the vessel said a 10-person crew was looking after 219 survivors, including 33 held in a separate life raft.

The ship “is unable to move, she is no longer the master of her maneuver, due to her overcrowded deck and a life raft deployed at her side,” another message said.

On Saturday afternoon, the Italian coast guard said one of its patrol vessels was dispatched from the island of Lampedusa and took in 49 people seen as most vulnerable — 32 women, 13 children and four men.

“Just transferred all remaining guests onto #SeaWatch4, who now have about 350 people on board. It’s not over: We demand a Place of Safety for all survivors, now,” the Louise Michel said later in a tweeted update.

The coast guard also took possession of the body of one person who had died. The man had perished before the Louise Michel crew had reached the stricken vessel he was traveling on Friday, the charity boat said.

Italian authorities stressed that the German-flagged migrant boat was in Maltese search-and-rescue waters.

Meanwhile, two other migrant rescue vessels mobilized to help the Louise Michel: the German-flagged Sea-Watch 4 and Mare Ionio, run by the Italian charity Mediterranea.

The Louise Michel is painted pink and named after a 19th-century French anarchist and feminist who fought to defend the Paris Commune in 1871 and advocated class warfare.

The ship, a former French navy unit, was bought with proceeds from the sale of a Banksy artwork. The artist decorated the vessel with the image of a girl with a life vest and holding a heart-shaped buoy.

Banksy, whose identity remains a mystery, is famous for highlighting social issues in his work.