Italian Court annuls third detention of Geo Barents
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The Italian court of Salerno has annulled the third detention order against the Geo Barents, a search and rescue (SAR) vessel operated by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) between June 2021 and November 2024. This detention, imposed in August 2024, had been suspended by the court in September following an appeal by MSF.
The court ruling declared the detention order unlawful and reaffirmed two critical principles.
First, that the burden of proving violations lies with the Italian authorities, who failed to provide evidence for their accusations against the conduct of MSF crew aboard the Geo Barents. Second, orders from the Libyan Coast Guard requiring rescue vessels to leave rescue scenes - as occurred in this case and others- cannot be considered "coordination by the competent authority." On the contrary, they contradict the absolute international duty to render rescue at sea.
Thus, the court confirmed that the conduct of MSF crew was entirely legitimate and in accordance with international and national law.
"This is another court judgment that reaffirms the duty to save lives at sea and exposes the Italian authorities’ systematic obstruction of humanitarian search and rescue operations in the central Mediterranean," said Juan Matías Gil, MSF SAR Representative.
Yet, despite repeated court wins, humanitarian SAR actors still face ongoing administrative harassment and criminalisation, while people continue drowning due to Europe’s failed migration and rescue policies."
The detention in question was the third of four imposed on the Geo Barents under Italy’s punitive Piantedosi Decree (Decree Law 1/2023). Introduced in January 2023, the decree established targeted operational restrictions and sanctions for civilian search and rescue vessels. It obliges vessels to proceed directly to an assigned port after each rescue, forbids multiple rescues without prior authorisation, and enforces penalties for non-compliance, including detentions from 10 up to 60 days and the possible confiscation of the vessel.
Operated by MSF between June 2021 and November 2024, the Geo Barents rescued more than 12,600 people while European states increasingly neglected their responsibility to coordinate and conduct search and rescue operations in the Central Mediterranean. In December 2024, MSF was compelled to end its operations on the Geo Barents after more than two years of operating under these restrictive Italian laws and policies.
MSF has been active and engaged in search and rescue operations in the central Mediterranean since 2015, working on nine different rescue vessels (alone or in partnership with other NGOs) and rescuing more than 94,200 people.
In November 2025, MSF began operating Oyvon, a fast, small rescue boat that has so far rescued 68 people from distress at sea.