Banksy’s Rescue Boat Calls for Help

The two items in the news appeared within hours of each other. The first, dated August 28, 17:09, was headlined, “Street artist Banksy funds pink boat to rescue migrants in the Mediterranean.” The second dated August 29, 5:45 AM was titled, “Banksy’s migrant rescue boat says overloaded, stranded at sea.

The story behind the headlines is that the British street artist Banksy has funded a 31-meter boat to be used to rescue migrants in distress in the Mediterranean.  The boat is named Louise Michel, after a French feminist anarchist, and began operations last week. The former French Navy craft, daubed in pink and white, is captained by Pia Klemp and crewed by a team of rescue professionals from across Europe. 

The second half of the story is that Louise Michel has picked up 219 migrants off the coast of Libya since Thursday and is attempting to find a safe port in which they may be brought ashore.

Reuters reports: The boat, manned by a crew of 10, issued a series of tweets overnight and on Saturday saying its situation was worsening, and appealing in vain for help from authorities in Italy, Malta and Germany.

“We are reaching a state of emergency. We need immediate assistance,” said one tweet, adding that it was also carrying a body bag containing the corpse of one migrant who had died.

Another said the boat was unable to move and “no longer the master of her own destiny” due to her overcrowded deck and a life raft deployed at her side, “but above all due to Europe ignoring our emergency calls for immediate assistance.”

The Louise Michel is approximately 50 kilometers southeast of the Italian island of Lampedusa, according to marinetraffic.com.

Thanks to Alaric Bond for contributing to this post.

Comments

Banksy’s Rescue Boat Calls for Help — 5 Comments

  1. I wish I was there to help as a marine engineer. Stuck in Guatemala until birders open again.

  2. Italian coastguard also failed to respond to burning superyacht last week, the crew and guests eventually made it to shore in a tender after all their efforts to fight the fire on their own had failed.