The migrant relief NGO SOS Méditerranée announced Monday, December 21 that its Ocean Viking ship, blocked for five months by the Italian authorities, will be able to resume its rescue operations in Mediterranean waters.
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“
On December 21, after a third inspection in five months by the Italian Coast Guard, the Ocean Viking was found to comply with the interpretation of ship safety rules by the Italian authorities.
The detention of the vessel has therefore been lifted,
”the Marseille-based NGO said in a statement.
In order for his boat to start again, SOS Méditerranée carried out “
expensive
” work to install additional emergency equipment, including the addition of life rafts and additional immersion suits.
“
It is a relief to finally be able to resume our rescue missions in early January.
During all this year, there were really few operational humanitarian ships and yet people continue to cross, the humanitarian emergency continues in the central Mediterranean it is still the deadliest migratory route in the world
”, declared the director general of SOS Mediterranean Sophie Beau.
The year 2020 is marked by an upsurge in attempts to cross the central Mediterranean.
The candidates for exile from various countries mainly leave Tunisia and Libya to reach Italy.
In total, more than 1,100 migrants perished in the Mediterranean, the vast majority of them on this central route, according to the International Organization for Migration.
The Ocean Viking will reach Marseille by the end of December to restock and take on board the members of the rescue and medical teams.
The teams will be subjected to a 10-day quarantine and several Covid-19 tests before leaving, probably in the first half of January, said Ms. Beau.
“
Fortunately the Ocean Viking has been released.
It is an encouraging sign for the other vessels still stranded, I hope,
”she added.
According to SOS Méditerranée, “
five humanitarian ships still cannot operate due to administrative blockages
”.
In November, the boat of the Spanish NGO Open Arms, which was then the only one in operation in the Mediterranean, had saved more than 260 shipwrecked migrants.
SOS Méditerranée says it has helped more than 31,000 people since the start of its operations in 2016.