The some 370 people rescued by the humanitarian ship
Ocean Viking
off Libya between Thursday and Friday will be disembarked in Sicily, the NGO SOS Méditerranée announced on Sunday.
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“
Great relief on board tonight: #OceanViking has been given a safe place in Augusta, Sicily.
We will get there tomorrow (Monday) morning,
”tweeted the NGO headquartered in Marseille.
The Italian coast guards were not immediately reachable this Sunday evening to confirm this announcement.
SOS Méditerranée explained on Saturday that it had sent requests to the Libyan maritime authorities to disembark in safe places, then for lack of response to have requested the support of the authorities of Malta and Italy, the closest European countries, while the weather was deteriorating .
During three separate rescues, the
Ocean Viking
had rescued 374 migrants attempting the crossing to Europe, including an eight-month-pregnant woman who was able to be evacuated by the Italian coast guard on Saturday.
Among these survivors from sub-Saharan Africa are 165 minors, the vast majority (131) of whom are unaccompanied, according to SOS Méditerranée.
There are 35 children (5-15 years) and 21 babies (0-4 years).
Ships stranded in Italy
The
Ocean Viking
resumed sea from Marseille on January 11 after being stranded for five months in Italy where the authorities imposed work on it.
The
Ocean Viking
is currently the only NGO relief ship in the region, according to SOS Mediterranean director Sophie Beau, "
the others being blocked by the Italian authorities as was the
Ocean Viking
before
".
The candidates for exile from various countries mainly leave Tunisia and Libya to reach Europe via Italy, whose coasts are the closest.
In total, more than 1,200 migrants perished in 2020 in the Mediterranean, the vast majority of them on this central route, according to the International Organization for Migration.
