Banksy’s Migrant Ferry Vessel Impounded

Most readers have probably heard of Banksy, the pseudonymous British graffiti artist who has been active on the hip art scene in England since the 1990s. Banksy’s street art is very trendy, and his graffiti works — some of which have required the removal of sections of wall where they were painted — are often sold at auction for millions of dollars.

Banksy is also an activist for various progressive causes, including that of the poor, poor Palestinians. In addition he has often expressed his sympathies for third-world Muslim immigrants.

Recently Banksy lent his artistic hand to the decoration of a refitted French naval vessel, the Louise Michel, which is now being used as a migrant-ferry boat. The artist lavished a lot of pink paint on the job, and included some of his signature stencils in the design.

Now the Louise Michel has been impounded by the Italian maritime authorities for hindering the coast guard in its performance of its duties. The bien-pensants are up in arms about this interference in their migrant operations, and have lodged protests with the Italian government.

The following Italian news video reports on the brouhaha over the Louise Michel. Many thanks to HeHa for the translation, and to Vlad Tepes and RAIR Foundation for the subtitling:

Video transcript:

00:04   Banksy’s pink ship is under detention,
00:07   and remains in the port of Lampedusa, after rescuing 178 refugees during its last crossing.
00:13   According to the Italian authorities, the NGO’s activists violated the Code of Ethics and Conduct
00:17   for NGOs, and overburdened the coordination of rescue operations.
00:20   In recent hours, almost a thousand migrants have reached Italian shores, which means that
00:25   the record-breaking number of arrivals in just three days amounts to over 4,000 migrants,
00:28   almost all of them coming from Tunisia. The death toll has dramatically risen.
00:32   The Tunisian Coast Guard recovered at least 29 drowned bodies
00:35   from two boats, which sank not far from the coast,
00:38   after more shipwrecks, which had taken place in previous days.
00:41   In Italy, in contrast, the controversy is about a former French Navy vessel,
00:46   which has been customized with graffiti painted by the British artist [Banksy],
00:49   who funds its operations. The ship was purposefully equipped for rescue operations.
00:53   The ship’s crew may be investigated by the magistrates of Agrigento,
00:57   together with other NGOs.
01:00   As the Italian Coast Guard pointed out, the continuous calling from aircraft or NGOs,
01:06   overburdened the communication system of the National Rescue Coordination Center.
01:12   The Louise Michel ship, after carrying out a rescue operation in Libyan waters,
01:17   had ignored the order to reach the port of Trapani at once,
01:20   and headed towards three other boats instead, which the Coast Guard vessels were already reaching.
01:26   “They are preventing us from leaving the port and rescuing people at sea, this is unacceptable”:
01:31   this is what the NGO’s activists are protesting about.
01:34   But according to the maritime authorities,
01:38   the ship overburdened the Rescue Coordination Center’s challenging work.
01:41   Besides, their non-compliance with the orders delayed the disembarking
01:44   of the migrants rescued in the first operation.
 

6 thoughts on “Banksy’s Migrant Ferry Vessel Impounded

  1. That tub should be loaded with orcs until the gunwales are barely above the waves then sent back in the direction of North Orcfrica to disgorge its cargo and then sunk.

    • I would have sunk it at sea with all the orcs aboard and wouldn’t have lost a nights sleep over it.

  2. I think using this and other such vessels to repatriate the unwanted invaders to North Africa would be a great idea.
    In addition, the original crew of the vessel should be used to man it and carry their erstwhile incoming passengers back home. Italian maritime ships and boats could monitor their passage to Africa with the promise that any deviation from their course would result in them being sunk.

    I said nearly two decades ago to work colleagues that our armed forces should be concentrated on our coastline with orders to shoot anyone who attempts to land on our shores. I believe it would have taken only one or two robust actions to defend our country in such a way as to persuade all the others to maybe think twice about it.

    The problem is, we have been brainwashed by the pervasive commies into believing that becuase we are ‘civilised’ it’s just not done to defend ourselves or our country. In my opinion, civilised people would be only too ready to defend ourselves; with capital punishment for bad people within our country; and with the use of force against agressors attempting to invade from without.

    • You bloody Brits cannot even defend yourselves from harm much less the invasion from these 3rd worlders. lol

  3. It would make a nice reef if sunk far out at sea. All boats used to transport orcs and associated third world invaders should be seized and sunk at sea. The “non-profit” groups that support this madness and their “do good ” rich backers should pick up the towing bill!

  4. If I was large and in charge, all those boats would be sunk at sea, all ngo boats and all invader craft with orcs aboard. I would even go so far as to wait until they hit international waters and then attack and let the sharks feast.

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