438 migrants in distress were rescued by the Ocean Viking ambulance ship in international waters off Libya and Tunisia, the NGO SOS Méditerranée announced. Among them were “32 unaccompanied minors, nine babies and five people with disabilities”, with “23 nationalities represented”.
The Ocean Viking, an ambulance ship chartered by SOS Méditerranée, rescued 438 migrants in distress in international waters off Libya and Tunisia in two days, the Marseille-based humanitarian NGO announced on Friday. The NGO announced in the morning that it had taken care of “272 survivors” on Thursday, who were on three boats, including “32 unaccompanied minors, nine babies and five people with disabilities”, with “23 nationalities represented” .
Later on Friday, SOS Méditerranée said it had recovered 166 additional people after “assisting multiple boats in distress and evacuating survivors in coordination with the Italian coast guard in the search and rescue zone between Tunisia and Lampedusa”. . In total, “438 survivors are currently on board,” said the NGO, adding that its ship “is now on its way to Genoa (northern Italy), the remote safe port which has been assigned by the Italian authorities for disembark the survivors”.
2,013 migrants disappeared in 2023
The central Mediterranean is the most dangerous migration route in the world, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The UN agency estimates that since the beginning of 2023, 2,013 migrants have disappeared there compared to 1,417 over the whole of 2022. In June, a shipwreck presented as one of the most serious involving migrants in the Mediterranean, left at least 82 dead, but in the Eastern Mediterranean.
The Ocean Viking had been held for 10 days in July by the Italian authorities who blamed it for security failures, but it had been authorized to return to sea on July 21.