(Marseille) The Italian authorities have immobilized theOcean Vikingthe ambulance ship of the NGO SOS Méditerranée, in Bari (southeast of Italy), accusing it of having changed course after rescues, the NGO based in Marseille, in the south, announced on Sunday -east of France.
” L’Ocean Viking is detained for the second time in two months, thus ending the year as it began, with the obstruction of humanitarian assistance at sea under a useless, arbitrary and discriminatory law,” denounced Sunday evening in a SOS Méditerranée press release.
According to the NGO, the Italian authorities accuseOcean Viking “for 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, which they had assigned to him.
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, theOcean 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.
L’Ocean Viking 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 theOcean Vikingexplains the association, without being able to specify whether they could be saved.
“With no 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).