The Ocean Viking vessel operated by
the NGO SOS Mediterranee on Monday night rescued 85 people,
including three newborns and three pregnant women, who were on
board a dinghy that ran into trouble in the Libyan search and
rescue zone, the organization said Tuesday.
One of the passengers was also a young teen, according to the
NGO.
The migrant vessel rescued by the Ocean Viking was "extremely
overcrowded and was reaching a breaking point after taking on
water", said SOS Mediterranee.
"Authorities assigned Genoa as a port to disembark" the rescued
migrants, said the NGO, "forcing the Ocean Viking to undertake a
four-day-long journey far from the area" where it operated.
Since 2022, it added, "SOS Mediterranee has lost 171 days due to
the policy" of assigning ports that are far from the rescue
areas of migrant-rescue NGO-run ships.
"We could have assisted people in danger during those days", it
said.
"This practice leaves several lives at risk in the Mediterranean
in a clear violation of maritime law".
The government of Premier Giorgia Meloni has promoted a practice
of sending NGO rescue ships operating in the Central
Mediterranean to ports far from the search and rescue area,
ostensibly in order to take pressure off Sicilian ports and
reception facilities.
However, the move, combined with a ban on conducting multiple
rescues, has been slammed by NGOs overseeing maritime rescue
operations that say their boats are often away from the search
and rescue area for long periods and operate below their maximum
capacity.
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