The Italian government detained and fined a ship operated by the German migrant delivery NGO Sea-Watch, Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi announced on Sunday.
In remarks shared with local outlets, Minister Piantedosi reportedly explained that the vessel was detained in response to violations of rules regarding search and rescue operations. For years, the pro-migrant German NGO has repeatedly served as a “taxi” for illegal migrants, deploying its vessels across the Mediterranean Sea to drop off migrants at Italian docks.
The NGO claims that the vessel allegedly conducted a search and rescue operation in international waters before it docked at Naples last week.
Piantedosi detailed on Sunday that Italian authorities ordered a 45-day detention of the German-flagged ship Sea Watch 5 and was imposed a 7,500 euro fine on grounds that it “failed to comply with the legal obligations required during sea operations.”
“A serious violation of regulations: search and rescue activities at sea must be managed and coordinated by the competent States, not by NGOs,” Piantedosi wrote on social media.
In remarks shared with local outlets, Minister Piantedosi stated that sea rescue operations are the “exclusive prerogative of states and cannot be left to the initiative and spontaneous actions of private entities that often refuse any form of coordination.”
“This is why we deemed it necessary to regulate these activities,” Piantedosi reportedly affirmed.
Per the news service Ansa, Tommaso Foti, Italian Minister for European Affairs, stressed, “there is a simple rule that applies to everyone: laws must be respected, even when one does not agree with them. A private organization cannot decide which rules to follow and which to ignore.”
“The Meloni government is at the forefront of upholding the rule of law and combating human traffickers: we defend our borders, combat illegal immigration, and work to reduce landings and ensure the effective repatriation of those who have no right to remain in Italy,” Foti reportedly stated.
Sea-Watch released a statement on Sunday confirming the detention of the vessel days after it allegedly rescued six individuals in international waters. The organization rejected the temporary detention of the vessel, and claimed “Despite being in radio contact with the so-called Libyan coastguard, the Italian authorities accuse Sea-Watch of failing to inform the Libyan authorities about the rescue operation.”
“While people drown seeking safety, Italy criminalizes rescue crews for doing their job. This is not migration policy — it is active obstruction of emergency assistance,” Sea-Watch spokesperson Giulia Messmer wrote.
A migrant disembarks from the German non-governmental rescue ship Sea-Watch 5 arrived in the port of Naples, southern Italy, on September 29, 2025 with 124 migrants. (Eliano Imperato/Anadolu via Getty Images)
According to the German NGO, the detention of the Sea-Watch 5 vessel is the eight such incident in 2026 so far that has prevented civilian ships from “carrying out their work for more than 180 days.”
In a separate, Italian-language statement, the NGO described the detained vessel as a ship that “saves lives at sea.” Sea-Watch rejected Interior Minister Piantedosi’s remarks and wrote, “We do not collaborate with criminals and traffickers. Can the Italian government say the same?”
The organization availed itself of the opportunity to lash out against the government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni — claiming that the detention of the vessel is a purported “propaganda move” that allegedly seeks to portray a “fictitious border management system that, in reality, goes no further than the tweets of its Ministers.”
The NGO further condemned the Meloni government over the “disastrous results they have brought upon the European Union” for its support of the new E.U. Pact on Migration and Asylum, which went into effect on June 12.
Sea-Watch’s actions have placed them at odds with the Italian government over the past years — most notably, in 2019, when one of its ships remained off the coast of the Italian island of Lampedusa before its captain rammed the vessel into a police motherboard and forcefully dropped off dozens of migrants. Italian courts, however, shockingly ordered the Italian government in February to compensate Sea Watch with 76,000 euro for having detained the NGO’s vessel.
As Breitbart News reported, the currently-detained Sea-Watch 5 vessel was deployed by the NGO in late 2022.
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