The NGO SOS Méditerranée protested on Saturday against a new detention of its ambulance ship Ocean Viking by the Italian authorities, the third since November. Based in Marseille, the NGO specializing in helping migrants at sea, indicated that its boat, which arrived on Friday in the Italian port of Brindisi, on the Adriatic coast, with 261 people collected at sea, had immediately received a detention order. of 20 days, accompanied by a fine of 3,333 euros.
This detention order is based on “false declarations from Libyan patrol boats,” denounces SOS Méditerranée in a press release. It refers to a final rescue, for which the Libyans accuse the Ocean Viking of having contravened an order to leave the area, Sophie Beau, general director of the NGO, explained to AFP.
“We scrupulously respect maritime law”
“In fact, we first had a green light (from the Libyans), before a last minute ban,” continued Sophie Beau, explaining that when the Ocean Viking was leaving the area as ordered, a small boat carrying refugees who “panicked” when they saw the help leave, “came within five meters” of the ship. Faced with this “very dangerous” situation, with the small boat at risk of capsizing, these migrants were finally rescued.
“We scrupulously respect maritime law,” continued the co-founder of the NGO, regretting that the Italian authorities “did not even ask our crew for explanations” upon their arrival. SOS Méditerranée will file an appeal against this detention, she said. Asked by AFP, the Italian Interior Ministry did not immediately react.
Italy, on the front line facing the crossings of migrants seeking to reach Europe, adopted a decree in early 2023 which partly hinders the activities of humanitarian NGO ships. The latter must now transport the rescued people to a designated port – often very distant – from the first operation, which de facto prevents them from carrying out a series of rescues. These measures “have dramatic consequences”, declared Sophie Beau. She estimated that all humanitarian relief organizations had thus lost the equivalent of a year at sea due to the distance from designated disembarkation ports and the equivalent of a year in periods of detention.
SOS Méditerranée has rescued more than 39,000 people in the Mediterranean since 2016, mainly in the central Mediterranean. In 2023, 3,041 migrants were reported missing after trying to cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe, and 128 since the start of the year, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).