Italian prosecutors in Brindisi have opened an investigation into the captain of the Sea-Watch 5, Anne van Dam, on suspicion of aiding illegal immigration after Frontex footage recorded on May 11, 2026 appeared to show the rescue vessel receiving roughly 90 migrants, mostly from Bangladesh, from a smuggler's speedboat off the coast of Libya.
The European Border and Coast Guard Agency captured the transfer in the Mediterranean, after which Libyan coast guard forces fired on the rescue ship. The Sea-Watch 5 later docked in Brindisi carrying 166 migrants, four days after the recorded incident. Migrants reportedly pay smugglers up to 15,000 euros for the crossing.
Sea-Watch, which has brought approximately 50,000 refugees to Europe since 2015, denied any contact with smugglers and dismissed the accusations as a smear campaign aimed at criminalising civilian sea rescue.