All refugees now evacuated from Banksy-funded rescue boat

All passengers from a refugee rescue boat funded by Banksy have been transferred to another humanitarian ship.

The former French navy vessel had been left stranded due to overcrowding off the coast of Malta on Saturday morning.

At one point there were 219 passengers on board the Louise Michel, including 33 in a life raft deployed by its side and one dead body, according to messages posted on the boat's official Twitter account.

A series of calls for help to various authorities was made over the course of almost four hours on Friday evening, but calls had either gone unanswered or they were told there was no assistance available, its crew said.

Some 12 hours after the ship’s leaders first issued emergency calls for help, the Italian Coastguard took around 49 of the “most vulnerable survivors”.

Later, another humanitarian ship Sea-Watch 4 – a joint project between United4Rescue, Sea-Watch, and Doctors without Borders – took all the remaining people on board.

A tweet from the Louise Michel account said: “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.”

In an update on Saturday afternoon, the vessel’s leaders said the Italian Coastguard had come to help, and that another rescue ship Sea-Watch 4 would “assist us doing what Europe falters to do”.

The tweet read: “Update: The Italian Coastguard took over 49 of the most vulnerable survivors! That’s great – and leaves us with the majority still waiting.

"By now, Sea Watch 4 arrived on scene & will assist us doing what Europe falters to do, having 201 guests on board themselves for days now…”

Earlier in the day, a video was posted to Banksy’s Instagram account showing the boat at work.

It was accompanied by the words: “Like most people who make it in the art world, I bought a yacht, to cruise the Med.

“It’s a French navy vessel we converted into a lifeboat because EU authorities deliberately ignore distress calls from ‘non-Europeans’.”

The footage ended with the words All Black Lives Matter.

The vessel was bought with the proceeds of some of Banksy’s works and is captained by a professional crew with a “flat hierarchy and a vegan diet”.

The Guardian reported that the British street artist first made contact with Pia Klemp, an experienced captain of a number NGO boats, in September 2019 asking to help.

The project aims to help fill a void left by European authorities, who the organisers say are “leaving desperate people to drift helplessly at sea”.

The Louise Michel’s mission statement is “to uphold maritime law and rescue anyone in peril without prejudice”.

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