Migrants, the story of the Sea-Watch 3 ship: detentions, rejections and now maxi compensation from the state

On 12 June 2019, the Sea-Watch 3 rescues migrants in distress in the central Mediterranean. From that moment on, the stalemate begins: the ship remains days without an actual port of disembarkation, while politics turns up the volume and the case turns into a head-on confrontation between the line of 'closed ports' and the principle - legal before humanitarian - that rescue does not end with recovery on board, but with landing in a safe place.

As the tension on board grows, the front also moves to Strasbourg. The Court of Human Rights is asked for an urgent measure to force disembarkation, but the Court does not order Italia to immediately open the port with a provisional measure. The tug-of-war, therefore, remains all political and operational.

On 29 June 2019 comes the scene that will go around the world: the Sea-Watch 3 enters the port of Lampedusa. In the manoeuvre, contact is made with a patrol boat of the Guardia di Finanza. Carola Rackete is arrested: the heaviest charge at that stage is resisting or violence against warship (in addition to other related charges).

But there is the twist. The gip of Agrigento does not validate the arrest a few days later: this is the junction at which the political clash begins to turn into a judicial dispute.

In 2020, the Court of Cassation (judgement 6626/2020) consolidates the framework whereby the duty to rescue includes the requirement to bring people to a place of safety. It is not a technical detail: it is the framework that makes the idea of turning that manoeuvre into a 'pure' offence, ignoring the emergency context on board, much more fragile.

In 2021, however, the proceedings against Carola Rackete deflated to the decisive point: the remaining charges were dismissed, effectively closing the criminal front linked to the Lampedusa episode.

The Palermo ruling imposing the compensation concerns the subsequent administrative detention, ordered after inspections and disputes, with the ship detained from 12 July to 19 December 2019 (according to the reconstructions on the measure).

This is where another lever of the State comes into play: the Harbour Master-Coast Guard communicates the administrative detention as part of the control procedures, justifying it with detected irregularities-failures and requesting checks on the safety management system.

According to the reconstructions of the case, Sea-Watch lodges an opposition with the prefect of Agrigento; no response is received and the effect of the silence-acceptance is then discussed. Despite this, the ship remains blocked until 19 December 2019, when the court intervenes. It is on this patrimonial damage (port costs, fuel, agency, legal expenses: recognised if documented) that the compensation arrives.

But now the game is all politics.