German Rescue Vessel May Dock in Bari With 261 Migrants

The German humanitarian charity ship Humanity 1 has been given permission to dock in the Italian port of Bari after rescuing 261 migrants and refugees at sea,

It was initially unclear whether the captain of the ship would sail to Bari as it was far from its current position east of Sicily, said the ship’s operator, the nongovernmental organization SOS Humanity.

The organization was surprised by the relatively swift allocation of a port by Italian authorities, given lengthy waits in the past for permission to dock.

The latest permit came after the Geo Barents, a vessel run by Médecins Sans Frontières, was assigned the port of Salerno as a landing point on Friday.

Both rescue ships had requested permission to land after completing several rescue missions to pick up migrants in distress off the coast of Libya.

It was unclear whether all the migrants on board would be allowed to leave the ships in Bari and Salerno.

In November, Italy’s new far-right government initially allowed only women, children and a few men to go ashore from a number of charity ships. The stand-off ended two days later when the men on board also allowed to disembark, following an intervention by health officials.