EU seeks safe harbor for ship carrying 141

MILAN — The European Commission said Monday it is in contact with a number of member states to identify a country willing to take 141 migrants picked up by a rescue ship, after the French aid groups operating the ship appealed for a safe port and Italy said Britain should take responsibility.

Doctors Without Borders and SOS Mediterranee, who operate the ship Aquarius, said the health of those rescued in two operations Friday is stable, but many are weak and malnourished. One of the smugglers’ boats, a small wooden craft with 25 migrants, appears to have been at sea for nearly 35 hours, the groups said. Most of the 141 migrants are from Somalia and Eritrea and they include 67 unaccompanied minors.

Italy and Malta, the closest ports, have both refused.

Italy continues to refuse port to humanitarian rescue ships, and the country’s transport minister, Danilo Toninelli, said on Twitter that Britain should take responsibility for the migrants aboard the Aquarius because it sails under the flag of the British territory of Gibraltar. Toninelli said the rescue was coordinated by Libyan authorities, and the ship was in Maltese waters.

The Malta government said it has no legal obligation to offer safe harbor to the Aquarius migrants, since it didn’t coordinate the rescue, which took place outside of the search and rescue area it is responsible for.

EU Commission spokeswoman Tove Ernst said in Brussels the commission is in touch with member states to find a solution, but she couldn’t say how many states were involved in the talks.