ROME - The Italian coast guard sent help Saturday to a rescue boat funded by British street artist Banksy after the vessel issued urgent calls for assistance, saying it was stranded in the Mediterranean and overloaded with migrants.
The coast guard said a patrol boat dispatched from the southern Italian island of Lampedusa had taken on board 49 of "those considered most vulnerable" among the 219 migrants picked up by the ship since Thursday off the coast of Libya.
Named after a French feminist anarchist, the Louise Michel started operating last week. Despite the help from Italy, it has still not found a safe port for the rest of the mainly African migrants on board.
In this undated handout photo, people pose after being rescued by the Louise Michel, a migrant search-and-rescue ship operating in the Mediterranean and financed by British street artist Banksy, at sea. (MV Louise Michel/Handout via Reuters)
The 49 people who were transferred off the ship included 32 women and 13 children, the Italian coast guard said.
The Louise Michel, a German boat manned by a crew of 10, issued a series of tweets overnight and Saturday saying its situation was worsening and appealing 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 one migrant who had died.
Another tweet said the boat was unable to move and "no longer the master of her own destiny" because of her overcrowded deck and a life raft deployed at her side, "but above all due to Europe ignoring our emergency calls for immediate assistance."
Before Italy's coast guard intervened, an Italian charity ship, the Mare Jonio, said it was leaving the Sicilian port of Augusta, much farther away than Lampedusa, to offer assistance.
Two U.N. agencies called for the "urgent disembarkation" of the Louise Michel and two other ships carrying a total of more than 400 migrants in the Mediterranean.
About 200 are on the Sea Watch 4, a German charity ship, while 27 have been on board the commercial tanker Maersk Etienne since their rescue on August 5.
The International Organization for Migration and the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said in a joint statement they were "deeply concerned about the continued absence of dedicated EU-led search-and-rescue capacity in the Central Mediterranean."
"The humanitarian imperative of saving lives should not be penalized or stigmatized, especially in the absence of dedicated state-led efforts," they said.
In this still image taken from video, a Banksy graffiti in seen on the Louise Michel, a migrant search-and-rescue ship operating in the Mediterranean, Aug. 17, 2020. (MV Louise Michel/Reuters)
Italy is the destination of most migrants who have departed from Libya across the Mediterranean in recent years. The influx has created political tensions in Rome and fueled the success of Matteo Salvini's right-wing League party.
The 30-meter long (98-foot) Louise Michel, a former French Navy boat painted in pink and white, was bought with proceeds from the sale of Banksy artwork.
The side of the vessel's cabin features a picture of a girl holding a heart-shaped life buoy in Banksy's familiar stenciled style.
Bristol-born Banksy, who keeps his identity a secret, is known for his political or social-commentary graffiti that has popped up in cities around the world.