Status: 07.01.2023 5:42 p.m
The crews of the rescue ships “Ocean Viking” and “Geo Barents” rescued 110 migrants in distress off Libya. So some are injured. Italy already assigned a port to the “Ocean Viking” to bring people ashore.
Aid organizations rescued 110 migrants in distress off the coast of Libya. The organizations Doctors Without Borders and SOS Méditerranée said the people were traveling on overcrowded inflatable boats in international waters of the central Mediterranean.
The SOS Méditerranée crew took 37 migrants on board the “Ocean Viking”. The people had cast off from the North African coast to reach the EU. Some have suffered fuel burns. The Médecins Sans Frontières team rescued and treated 73 people on the Geo Barents.
Political change of course in Italy
Shortly after the deployment, Italy assigned the “Ocean Viking” to Ancona on the Adriatic Sea as a port so that people could go ashore there. SOS Méditerranée estimated that the journey there would take around four days. Assigning ports after the first rescue is the new policy of Italy’s right-wing government. In her opinion, the rescued people will be helped more quickly.
However, rapid allocation usually also means that the organizations do not save other migrants in distress at sea as they did before. Because before the political change of course, the ships often waited for days for a port and thus stayed longer at sea.
Disaster off the Tunisian coast
The crossing from North Africa to Europe is life-threatening and the boats used are often unseaworthy. According to media reports, a migrant boat with almost three dozen people on board sank between the Tunisian coast and the Italian island of Lampedusa on Friday. Three died, including a toddler. Fishermen brought people on board. Italy’s coast guard then took them over and brought them to Lampedusa, as reported by the Ansa news agency.