The humanitarian ship of SOS Méditerranée, immobilized since January 11 by the Italian authorities, was authorized on Thursday January 27 to return to sea, the NGO announced.
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"
Today the Ocean Viking was released after a complementary state check
" in the port of Trapani, Sicily, she said on her Twitter account. “
All deficiencies identified for the detention of the vessel at the beginning of the month have been corrected. We are preparing to resume our operations in the central Mediterranean as soon as possible
,” she added. The Italian coastguard claimed to have identified "
various irregularities of a technical nature that could compromise the safety of crews and people recovered on board
".
Italy regularly immobilizes humanitarian NGO ships that have entered its waters on the grounds that they are not up to standard, highlighting security breaches.
NGOs, for their part, see it as retaliatory measures intended to prevent them from providing assistance at sea to migrants trying to reach Europe.
The Ocean Viking had already been immobilized by the Italian authorities in July 2020 for "
technical irregularities
".
The central Mediterranean is the most dangerous migration route in the world, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
The UN agency estimates the number of dead and missing since 2014 at more than 17,000, including 2,047 last year.
