German NGO Mission Lifeline has been forced to sell its rescue ship after no European country wanted to place it under its flag on reasonable terms.

Lifeline said the 32-metre vessel, which rescued over 1,000 people since it began operations, was sold as it could not be used as a rescue vessel any longer. 

The vessel had been impounded by the Maltese authorities when it had brought in 234 migrants in June 2018.

The German captain of the humanitarian rescue ship had been fined €10,000 in May 2018 over registration irregularities, but his conviction was quashed on appeal in January.

Claus Peter Reisch was vindicated after a judge ruled that the prosecution had failed to prove that he had criminal intent when he had sailed into Maltese waters in 2018. Mr Reisch was arrested that year and the ship he was sailing, the MV Lifeline, impounded after it brought 234 migrants it had rescued in the central Mediterranean to Malta. 

The Rise Above undergoing major works

Authorities had said that the ship was incorrectly registered and the captain charged with entering Maltese territorial waters without the necessary registration or licence.

New vessel on the horizon

Lifeline said the proceeds from the sale, which is in the low five-figure region, will be used to purchase another rescue vessel. But the NGO said it was still €50,000 short. 

Mission Lifeline chairman Axel Steier, a paramedic, said he was bidding farewell to the ship with a heavy heart. Its steering wheel will be permanently exhibited in the Dresden Transport Museum. 

“No matter which ship we use, we will always find a way to do our duty,” he told Times of Malta as he confirmed that work was well under way on Mission Lifeline’s new vessel, the Rise Above, which is expected to be ready by mid-April and transferred to the Mediterranean for rescue operations here.

“Every sailor knows what to do. Our countries sometimes forget that. We don't allow that. You don't let people drown. It is a crime. You don't bring them back to Libya, because it is also punishable. Saving lives is not a crime,” he said. 

Major work and remodelling have already been done in recent weeks. The expansion of the infirmary has already begun, as well as the entire electrical work will be modernized, the main engine overhauled and a new mast built. A solar roof will be installed shortly.

Captain Reisch has since left Lifeline, which is looking for other captains and crew to man its new vessel.