Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing government, which was installed in late October 2022, has introduced new regulations for migrant rescue ships in January 2023 which activists have condemned, as they say it intentionally makes their job much harder and puts migrants’ lives at risk. Ships cannot embark on more than one rescue operation at a time unless authorised to do so by Italian authorities. If a ship is found in violation of the decree more than once, the vessel can be seized by Italian authorities. It resumed its original course to Bari, though authorities had dismissed the Ocean Viking from the mission as it was too far away. “We know this is a tactic to try and stop our operation rather than something that is valid in some way,” Mary Finn, another Ocean Viking rescuer, said.
