Rescue boat funded by Banksy saves refugees

Rescue boat funded by Banksy saves refugees

A medic on board a Banksy-funded rescue boat, Leona Blankenstein, explains howthe crew saved 89 refugees from a rubber dinghy amid a storm in theMediterranean Sea.

The Louise Michel, a former French navy vessel, launchedunder its new guise last week and features a painting from Banksy depicting ayoung girl holding on to a heart-shaped safety float.

The boat was renamedafter a 19th-century French anarchist, and is spattered in pink paint afterthe secretive artist “decorated her with a fire extinguisher”.

It was boughtwith the proceeds of some of Banksy’s works and is captained by a professionalcrew with a “flat hierarchy and a vegan diet”.