The charity that runs the ship said Wednesday that a rescue vessel funded by British street-artist Banksy was grounded in port for 20 consecutive days because it refused to obey Italian authorities' orders for migrants to disembark.

The Louise Michel was supposed to transport 37 people who were rescued from the sea to Pozzallo, Sicily. Instead, it took them to Lampedusa because the seas were too rough for the ship to reach the destination.

The Louise Michel charity posted on X that "Our rescue vessel MV Louise Michel was detained in the port of Lampedusa for 20 days," The charity added: "We have been informed that the ship has now been detained because it did not follow the order to disembark from Sicily."

The right-wing government of Italy has been criticized for limiting the activities and charity rescue ships. This includes orders to take migrants away from search and Rescue areas, increasing fuel costs, and taking them to distant ports.

Banksy is a social and political activist who hides his identity. Both the charity he sponsors and the 30-metre long rescue vessel are named in honour of Louise Michel, an 18th-century French feminist anarchist. (Reporting and editing by Alvise Armellini, Tomaszjanowski, and Romolo Tosiani)