Coronavirus Test Negative on Board Costa Smeralda
A test carried out on Thursday on a passenger from Macau aboard a cruise ship in Italy proved she did not have the new coronavirus, an Italian health ministry spokesman said.The Costa Crociere company’s ship Costa Smeralda docked in Civitavecchia, north of Rome, with about 6,000 people aboard. The mayor of the town had asked authorities to prevent passengers from disembarking until it had been confirmed the virus was not present.The 54-year-old woman, who boarded the ship on January 25 in the port of Savona, had come down with a fever and flu-like symptoms.
Migrant Rescue Ship Won't Take People Back to Libya
Rescue ship Aquarius, which has picked up almost 3,000 migrants from the Mediterranean this year, will carry out rescue missions without waiting for orders from coastguards and will not return people to Libya, its search and rescue head said."When we see there is a vessel in distress, with a high likelihood of people dying, we will go and rescue them immediately as per international maritime law," Nick Romaniuk told Reuters on board the Aquarius.Over the last year coordination centres asking rescue vessels to go on standby or wait for clarification on certain things had added to the danger of people needing to be rescued, which is why they would no longer wait…
Italian Navy Takes Back Fishing Boat Seized Near Libya
The Italian navy took back control on Friday of a Sicilian fishing boat that had been seized overnight by unknown assailants near the Libyan coast, the defence ministry said. The stretch of Mediterranean Sea has grown increasingly chaotic in recent years as hundreds of thousands of people risk the dangerous journey to Europe to escape conflicts in Libya, other parts of North Africa and the Middle East. A defence ministry statement said naval personnel boarded the trawler soon after it was stopped by a tugboat around 90 km (55 miles) from the Libyan port of Misrata. The ministry did not immediately say whether there was any clash with those who had seized the Italian trawler or what happened to them or the seven crew on the vessel after the navy reasserted control.
Costa Concordia Refloating Begins
The Costa Concordia refloating operation has started informs the 'Parbuckling Project' web site. At 6 am Monday, the Senior Salvage Master, Nick Sloane, reached the Remote Operations Center located on the Concordia with the rest of the team, having been given the green light by the Italian authorities on Saturday.
