Rome (dpa) - The German aid organization Sea-Watch wants to pool donations collected for the captain of one of its rescue ships, Carola Rackete, facing criminal charges in Italy with others involved in saving migrants stranded at sea.

"A committee has been formed because we want to use the money as effectively as possible for rescues at sea, not only for Sea-Watch, but we want to look together at where it is most needed," spokesman Ruben Neugebauer told dpa on Tuesday.

The committee includes representatives of aid organizations and the Seebruecke (Bridge over the Sea) network, which works to rescue migrants in the Mediterranean.

Part of the donations will be used to pay for the legal costs for Rackete, who has been greeted with a wave of solidarity after her arrest in Italy when she ignored a government ban and brought her ship, the Sea-Watch 3, with dozens of rescued migrants on board into the port of Lampedusa island.

A call by German television presenters Jan Boehmermann and Klaas Heufer alone has raised almost 1 million euros (1.12 million dollars).

Rackete, 31, who comes from the northern German state of Lower Saxony, has been freed, but she still faces trial in Italy.