(ANSA) - ROME, FEBRUARY 24 - "We are accused of not having shared the data of the VDR (Voyage Data Recorder), requested from Geo Barents immediately after the assignment of the port of Ancona".
The Vdr is a sort of black box that records information about the ship.
"Never before on this occasion - says Doctors Without Borders regarding the administrative detention ordered by the Italian authorities - had Geo Barents been asked to share VDR data and the ship's Command has always provided all other information relating to the mission (such as the logbook)".
The NGO is now "evaluating with its legal team the legitimacy of this measure and any legal action to be taken".
VDR data are intended to provide, in a secure and always available form, information regarding the position, movement, physical condition, command and control of a ship in the period before and after a marine accident.
"The information stored in the VDR - says MSF - must be used, according to the regulations in force, in an investigation following a maritime accident. The rescue of the 48 shipwrecked people does not fall within this category and it is for this reason that the captain did not activate this procedure but shared, as always, all other information relating to the mission."
(HANDLE).
