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»Ocean Viking« in the Mediterranean
Photo: Flavio Gasperini/ AP
The aid organization SOS Méditerranée rescued 37 migrants in distress off the coast of Libya.
The people were on an overcrowded inflatable boat in international waters of the central Mediterranean, the organization said on Twitter on Saturday.
The crew of the »Ocean Viking« took them on board and afterwards reported people with fuel burns.
Italy assigned the ship Ancona on the Adriatic Sea as a port so that people could disembark there.
SOS Méditerranée estimated that the journey there would take around four days.
Port assignment after the first rescue is the new policy of Italy's right-wing government.
In her opinion, the rescued people will be helped more quickly.
However, a quick allocation usually also means that the organizations do not save other migrants in distress as before, if the ships still have the capacity to do so.
The 37 rescued on the "Ocean Viking" left the North African coast to reach the EU.
The crossing is life-threatening and the boats that people use are often not seaworthy.
According to media reports, one such boat with almost three dozen people on board sank between the Tunisian coast and the Italian island of Lampedusa on Friday.
Three people died, including a toddler.
Fishermen first brought the people on board, then Italy's coast guard took over and brought them to Lampedusa, as reported by the Ansa news agency.
Donation-funded organizations keep coming to the area to save migrants from drowning.
Médecins Sans Frontières' "Geo Barents" is currently back in action.
wit/dpa
