“The Ocean Viking is detained for the second time in two months, ending the year as it began, with the obstruction of humanitarian assistance at sea under an unnecessary, arbitrary and discriminatory law,” said the statement. denounced Sunday evening in an SOS Méditerranée press release.
According to the NGO, the Italian authorities accuse the Ocean Viking “of not having respected the instruction to proceed without delay, at maximum speed and following a direct route towards the safe place”, in this case Bari, that they had assigned to him.
244 migrants rescued off the coast of Libya
During three operations, the ship rescued 244 migrants off the coast of Libya on Wednesday, including eight women, two of them pregnant, 18 unaccompanied minors and four children under the age of four.
While heading towards the Italian port, the Ocean Viking received a new alert concerning at least 70 people in distress aboard a makeshift boat located 15 nautical miles (24 km) away. An update of the position will show that the skiff was ultimately located 60 nautical miles (97 km), reports the association.
The Ocean Viking being no longer able to provide assistance, it “immediately resumed its trajectory” towards the port of Bari which it “reached without further delay”, specifies the NGO, referring to a “minor” change of course “. These people were ultimately not rescued by the Ocean Viking, the association explains to AFP, without being able to specify whether they could be saved.
Since January 2023, 2,678 migrants have been missing
“In the absence of any indication that another vessel would come to the aid of these people in distress, we simply had no legal and moral choice but to respond to this alert. Any other decision would have constituted a violation of international law”, notes the NGO.
Already on November 15, the Italian authorities ordered a 20-day immobilization of the ship and asked it to pay a fine of 3,300 euros for not having coordinated with the authorities.
Since January 2023, 2,678 migrants have gone missing after trying to cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).