Well first of all none of these rescue vessels is registered in Malta, they only enter for bunkers as they do in other foreign ports, second her captain first tried to dock in a Sicilian port , it was only afterwards that she tried to dock at Malta when the Italian authorities refused her entry. Malta was adhering to EU regulations ,as the EU commissioner pointed out. Italy new government which has issues and opposes these regulations tried to bring to the attention of the rest of Europe the crises of immigrants in the Med which is hitting more the countries like Greece , Malta, Spain and mostly Italy.
This is not the end of this crises but rather the beginning as the good Summer weather will bring a lot of these illegal and unsafe boats crossing the Med .
thanks and regards.
Emmanuel.L.(Malta)

Hi Emmanuel,

Well, if she is normally based in La Valetta (home port is Gibraltar, I think), maybe that explains why the captain aimed for Malta first, in the hopes of unloading her human cargo there, instead of Italy, which was chosen only after Malta denied access, and which also then denied access, creating the political turmoil at EU level we are now witnessing...

Rgds,

Jose
(jdap)

This is the vessel which these last days was the centre of interest because of the over 600 illegal emigrants picked up and refused entry into Italian and Maltese ports.
regards
Emmanuel.L.(Malta)