A German humanitarian rescue ship said it was heading on Friday to the aid of a vessel run by a group of far-right activists who are at sea to disrupt the work of charity boats helping migrants in the Mediterranean.
The Sea-Eye charityโs founder Michael Buschheuer said the Italian coastguard had asked his ship to set course for the activistsโ C-Star vessel because it was in distress.
The Identitarian group running C-star, however, denied on Twitter that the vessel was in distress but said it had alerted other vessels because its main engine had stopped due to โa minor technical problemโ. The Italian coastguard declined to comment.
โC-Star is in distress and we are the closest, so at the moment we have set a course to reach them,โ Sea-Eyeโs Buschheuer told Reuters by telephone.
Sea-Eye said on Facebook that the C-Star โhad engine damage, was unable to manoeuvre and was in need of assistanceโ.
Supporters of the Identitarian movement have vowed to โdefendโ Europe from a migrant โinvasionโ from Africa.
A statement by the group posted on Twitter denied the vessel was in distress.
โC-Star has developed a minor technical problem during the nightโ it said and the main engine had stopped. Other vessels in the area had been alerted and the problem was โabout to be resolvedโ.
Buschheuer told Reuters: โIf there is not a big problem and itโs just the engine, itโs ironic. But a boat in distress is never funny.โ
The โDefend Europeโ activists of Identitarian have struggled to get their mission underway. The C-Star was held up in Egypt and Cyprus, and later refused access to Tunisian ports.
In Cyprus, the crew of the C-Star was stopped on suspicion of smuggling Sri Lankan men to Europe, and then later released.
Calling itself a โpatriotic NGOโ, the group is tapping into growing unease in Europe about immigration from North Africa that has brought some 600,000 impoverished migrants and refugees to Italy in less than four years.
In that time, more than 13,000 have died trying to make the crossing. Since 2014, charity groups have been operating rescue ships that have pulled tens of thousands of migrants from overcrowded and unsafe boats to safety.
