24/09/2018 (Agence Europe) – The migrant rescue ship Aquarius, which is operated by the NGOS SOS Méditerranée and Médecins sans frontières, and which is patrolling Libyan waters, is to lose its Panamanian flag for infringement of international law. Aquarius has rescued 47 people but when alerted by the Italian authorities at the end of last week, Panama announced it would withdraw its flag from the ship due to its operation activities in Libyan waters and its refusal to redirect the people it rescued to the Libyan coast – a country which is deemed by the NGOs not to be very safe. Gibraltar had already withdrawn its flag from Aquarius in August. On Monday 24 September, as Aquarius was on its way to Marseille, the Commission reiterated that such a question relates to international law and that there is no European competence on this subject. The two NGOs have criticised the "violent blow" brought to them. (SP)