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Aquarius migrant rescue ship arrives in Spain

June 17, 2018 at 11:03 am

The humanitarian ship Aquarius is seen at Boiler Wharf in Senegal [Darrin Zammit Lupi/Reuters]

The Aquarius charity-run rescue ship arrived in the Spanish port of Valencia on Sunday, a week after Italy refused to let it dock with 629 migrants on board.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez offered to take the ship in, meaning it had to travel an extra 700 nautical miles after plucking the migrants from unstable boats off the coast of Libya.

There are now 106 migrants on the vessel, after two ships from Italy’s coast guard and navy shared out the passengers to make the long journey safer.