The German rescue ship Sea-Watch 5 has been detained for 15 days by the Italian authorities following a rescue operation and fined 7500 euros. This makes Sea-Watch 5 the second civil rescue vessel of the Justice Fleet—after the Humanity 1—to be blocked in port by authorities, while people fleeing across the Mediterranean continue to drown. Together with Sea-Watch, a dozen other search and rescue organizations, as part of the alliance Justice Fleet, have ceased their operational communication with Libya.
Italian authorities accuse Sea-Watch of having failed to communicate with the Libyan Rescue Coordination Centre about the rescue of 18 people in distress in international waters on 24 January – despite the so-called Libyan Coast Guard being notorious for its extreme violence and disregard for human rights. The Italian authorities base their actions on the so-called ‘Piantedosi’ law, which obliges search and rescue actors, during a rescue in the Libyan search and rescue zone, to communicate with the Libyan Rescue Coordination Centre in Tripoli.
Together with a dozen other search and rescue organizations, Sea-Watch, as part of the Justice Fleet alliance, publicly committed in November 2025 to ending communication with this very Libyan coordination centre in order to prevent violent pullbacks by the so-called Libyan Coast Guard. More than 70 extreme acts of violence by Libyan actors – such as firing on rescue ships and on people fleeing – have been documented in the Mediterranean over the past ten years, the majority committed by the so-called Libyan Coast Guard.
Giulia Messmer, Sea-Watch spokesperson:“By detaining Sea-Watch 5, the Italian authorities are punishing us simply for complying with international law. We do not communicate with Libyan militias that fire on rescue ships and kill people on the move.”
Further information
More information on the Justice Fleet can be found here.
A list of extreme acts of violence committed by Libyan militias can be found here.
Photo and video material from the Sea-Watch 5 rescue can be found here.
Further information on the detention of Sea-Watch 5 can be found on the Sea-Watch website under News.
Contact:
Giulia Messmer
Sea-Watch Sprecherin
+4930120821923
info@justice-fleet.org