Crew on board a rescue boat funded by British street artist Banksy have said they are “reaching a state of emergency” as they shelter more than 200 people off the coast of Libya.
In a series of tweets posted through their official account, a spokesperson for the Louise Michel also said European authorities had ignored their calls for “immediate assistance”, with the boat so overcrowded it’s now unable to manoeuvre.
A crew of just 10 have rescued 219 people in recent days, with the majority crammed onto the 30m boat and 33 on a life raft. One person has died, and others on board suffered fuel burns and extreme trauma after spending days at sea.
The vessel set off in secret on August 18 from Valencia, on the east coast of Spain, and has remained in the central Mediterranean since.
On Thursday the Louise Michel rescued 89 people, including 14 women and four children, from a rubber dinghy in distress, and on Friday responded to a distress call from Moonbird, which monitors migrant boats in the central Mediterranean.
“Louise Michel proceeded at full possible speed & handed out life vests to 130 people to secure the situation,” a spokesperson tweeted after the rescue.
But hours later it became clear that the boat was struggling to cope without assistance from the authorities.
“Don’t let it become a body count. Do your job. Rescue them,” the spokesperson wrote. The crew also posted details of their call logs in the early hours of Saturday morning, alleging that neither the Italian or Maltese authorities had responded adequately to their requests despite the boat being within the European search and rescue zone.
In the most recent tweet, posted early on Saturday morning, the crew confirmed that the boat was still unable to safely move, with “nobody” coming to the vessel’s aid.
They said: “The people rescued have experienced extreme trauma, it’s time for them to be brought to a place of safety. We need immediate assistance.”
According to the Missing Migrants Project, 514 migrants have died while attempting to cross the Mediterranean so far in 2020, 359 of whom died in the central Mediterranean where the Louis Michel is currently stranded.
In October 2019 the EU voted against improving search and rescue operations for refugees stranded in the Mediterranean, with an alliance of far-right and centre-right parties ensuring the narrow defeat.