Mission Lifeline and its captain, Claus-Peter Reisch, who has had his fair share of legal woes in Malta, are back in action off Libya, the organisation announced yesterday.

The Dresden- based refugee aid organisation has been back in the central Mediterranean since Friday evening.

According to Lifeline spokesman Axel Steier, the ship is in the Libyan search-and-rescue area.

Captain Reisch and a 10-member crew are aboard a new ship, the 20-metre Eleonore, a recreational craft sailing under the German flag. It is able to accommodate up to around 100 people short term, but is not suitable for longer routes.

Last summer, captain Reisch was at the helm of the Lifeline, which had rescued 234 migrants at sea off Libya, and refused instructions to return the rescued migrants to Libya. When the ship was eventually allowed to dock in Malta, it was confiscated by the authorities and Reisch was eventually fined €10,000 for false registration of a rescue vessel.