GERMAN refugee-rescue charity Sea Watch won a legal appeal in an Italian civil court today freeing their ship, the Sea Watch 3, which had been impounded since the summer.

The Italian authorities impounded the Sea Watch 3 in June after its captain, Carola Rackete, defied former far-right interior minister Matteo Salvini by entering the port of Lampedusa and disembarking 40 rescued refugees after an 18-day stand-off at sea.