ON BOARD THE AQUARIUS (Reuters) - A humanitarian ship rescued 141 migrants packed onto wooden boats off the coast of Libya on Friday in its first mission since it was caught in a standoff with Italy and Malta over their refusal to let rescued migrants ashore.
When Italy turned the Aquarius away in June and Malta followed suit, the ship spent a gruelling nine days at sea before eventually disembarking the migrants in Spain. The row also drew in the European Union and France and political tensions have persisted between Rome and Paris since.