Sea Watch rescue ship approaches Sicilian coast Migrants aboard Sea Watch are hopeful as the rescue ship approaches the Sicilian coast, despite Italy's far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini insisting that the country's ports are closed to migrants. The Dutch-flagged vessel, which is operated by the German charity Sea Watch, picked up 47 migrants and asylum-seekers -- including eight minors -- six days ago off the coast of Libya as they made the treacherous Mediterranean crossing.