The crew of the ambulance ship Ocean Viking, which is chartered by the non-governmental organization SOS Méditerranée, proceeded to rescue 128 immigrants during three operations from Friday to Saturday off her coast Libyaas announced by the care and aid organization based in Marseille, in the south of France.
The Italian authorities then indicated to him the port of Ortona, in the central part of the country, on the Adriatic Sea, to disembark those rescued, much to the displeasure of the NGO, which criticized the choice of the “distant” port.
“They have to endure three extra days of unnecessary sea travel to finally reach a safe port”popularized through X (the former Twitter).
On the night of Friday to Saturday, the Ocean Viking carried out two rescue operations in response to “calls for help from the Alarm Phone (a non-governmental organization that operates a telephone number for migrants who encounter difficulties trying to cross the Mediterranean) in Libya search and rescue area’.
His teams initially rescued 33 people aboard the “unseaworthy” boat, none of whom were wearing life jackets.
Four hours later, SOS Méditerranée rescued another 34 people who were on another vessel in distress.
“The rescued had suffered burns due to fuel and had symptoms of poisoning. One of them collapsed shortly after boarding the Ocean Viking”the NGO clarified.
On Saturday afternoon, responding to a distress signal sent by a fishing vessel, the Ocean Viking rescued 61 people, including three women and two children, who were on board a wooden vessel in distress off the coast of Libya.
Mediterranean SOS has rescued over 39,000 people in the Mediterranean since 2016, mostly in the so-called Central Mediterranean Seaway, the deadliest migratory route on the planet.
Since January, 2,468 migrants have been declared missing after attempting to cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), part of the UN system.
At the forefront of the migrant crisis in Europe, in the face of an explosive increase in crossings, Italy recently passed a decree that greatly hampers the activity of NGO ships. The latter are now obliged to immediately transfer the people they board to a designated port – often a long distance – from their first rescue, which de facto prevents them from continuing operations.
Source: News Beast
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