As the Acquarius2 migrant rescue ship headed for the international search and rescue area off Libya on Monday, Italy's hardline interior minister Matteo Salvini signalled he won't allow the vessel to dock at an Italian port.
"The Aquarius2 is sailing south of Sardinia towards the Strait of Sicily. It's changed name adding a '2' and flag (no longer Gibraltar but Panama). But this won't change its final destination, NOT in Italy," Salvini wrote on Facebook.
The Aquarius, which is operated by the SOS Mediterranee and Doctors without Borders charities is sailing towards Libya from what its operators described as 'an extended technical port call in Marseille' and is expected to arrive back in its usual rescue haunt next week.
The ship is the last remaining vessel carrying out search and rescue missions in the central Mediterranean after Italy shut its ports to NGO ships in June and Malta having denied such vessels permission to leave its ports, citing concerns about ship registration anomalies.
The Acquarius has already been at the centre of two stand-offs this summer involving Italy and Malta that left hundreds of migrants stranded at sea for days before other EU countries agreed to take them.
Salvini has vowed "zero" migration to Italy and to deport half a million illegal immigrants.
While the ship was in Marseille it was announced that it would be registered in Panama instead of Gibraltar.
Gibraltar's government had put Aquarius on notice of removal of its registration after it ignored orders to suspend operations as a rescue vessel and revert to its role as a survey ship, as registered.
