ABOARD THE ASTRAL — A Spanish rescue ship set sail Thursday for international waters carrying four European parliamentarians as EU nations bickered over managing migrant flows across the Mediterranean Sea.
The Astral left Malta to join the Open Arms rescue ship already in the search and rescue zone off the coast of Libya. Both are operated by the Spain-based aid group Proactiva Open Arms.
Three Spanish and one Italian lawmaker joined the mission as observers and plan to share their accounts at the next European plenary session July 2-5 in Strasbourg. They are Miguel Urban, Ana Miranda and Javi Lopez of Spain, and Italian parliamentarian Eleonora Forenza of Italy.
Astral’s captain, Riccardo Gatti, says he is not sure the boat will be allowed back into Malta’s port. Several charity-run rescue ships have been denied docking in Italy and Malta in recent weeks.