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Rescue operation of the "Ocean Viking" in the Mediterranean
Photo: Julia Schäfermeyer / dpa
The rescue ship "Ocean Viking" was arrested in Italy for several months, and just a few days after the resumption of sea rescue in the Mediterranean, dramatic scenes take place again on board.
After two days on the open sea, the ship is now allowed to bring 373 refugees rescued from distress ashore in the port of Augusta in Sicily.
This was announced by the operating organization SOS Mediterranee.
The crew of the "Ocean Viking" had previously rescued hundreds of people from overcrowded rubber dinghies within 48 hours.
Despite increasingly bad weather, the ship initially received no clearance from Italy and Malta to call at a port and bring the rescued ashore.
According to the information, only one heavily pregnant woman had previously been flown to the island of Lampedusa by the Italian authorities.
According to SOS Mediterranee, the rescue operations took place in international waters around 28 nautical miles off the Libyan coast.
According to the organization, many of those rescued had "suffered severe poisoning from fuel fumes."
Some of the actions were only completed in the dark.
The Libyan maritime authorities had not responded to a request for help from the Ocean Viking, which is why they turned to Italy and Malta.
The majority of those rescued are from Guinea, Mali, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Sudan and Sierra Leone, it said.
Among them are 131 unaccompanied minors, reported SOS Mediterranee.
A spokeswoman for the UN migration agency IOM, Safa Msehli, tweeted on Sunday that at least 80 people had lost their lives in the central Mediterranean since the beginning of the year.
Most recently, around 17 boat migrants drowned and dozens of survivors were brought back to Libya on Sunday.
Civil war has been raging in Libya for almost ten years.
The country has become one of the most important transit areas for migrants en route to Europe.
The "Ocean Viking" was arrested by the Italian authorities with the request that the safety equipment on board be expanded.
After several inspections, the ship was released again shortly before Christmas.
After taking up provisions in Marseilles, France, the "Ocean Viking" has been back in action since January 11th.
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fek / dpa
