OCEAN VIKING

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NGO ship rescued 55 migrants

The 'Ocean Viking' has rescued 55 people off the coast of Libya on April 7, including four minors, who were on board a "wooden boat in distress. The 55 people were recovered safe and sound, but one of them collapsed from exhaustion while boarding the 'Ocean Viking'. The boat they were on board was sailing in international waters, and a Libyan patrol boat arrived on the scene just after the rescue, but did not intervene. The Italian maritime authorities have designated the port of Livorno to disembark the rescued people, which is located 1,160 kilometers from the rescue site.

NGO ship reached Ancona after rescuing more than 350 boat people

After the 'Ocean Viking' has rescued over 350 people from distress at sea in several rescue missions. the ship has been assigned Ancona as a safe port, which was 1450 kilometers away. Some survivors have already had a very long and stressful time at sea. In one rescue mission, 25 people were safely brought aboard the 'Ocean Viking', who had previously been on board an unseaworthy boat for around sevendays. They report that about 60 people died along the way and fell overboard. Two people were in such critical condition that they had to be evacuated. One of them has since died. The 'Ocean Viking' finally has reached Ancona on March 18 with the survivors.

23 migrants dropped off in Catania for urgent medical care

23 of the 359 migrants still on board the 'Ocean Viking' after being rescued by the SOS Méditerranée ship were disembarked in Catania to receive emergency medical care on March 16. They were transferred at the port's anchorage to an Italian Coastguard boat. The NGO appealed that the 336 other migrants still on board can be disembarked in a port closer than that of Ancona, which was assigned to them by the Italian authorities, some 1,500 km from the rescue site. Many were in an extremely fragile physical and mental state, the majority suffered from severe dehydration, some having had to drink sea water. Others were burned by the mixture of fuel and sea water in the bottom of their boat. During four successive rescues, the 'Ocean Viking' had rescued 361 migrants between March 13 and March 15. The first 25 were rescued while they were drifting in a boat en route from Zawiya in Libya. According to testimonies from these survivors, at least 60 people on board this boat died at sea before they could be saved. Two of these 25 migrants, in serious condition, were immediately airlifted from the Ocean Viking and hospitalized, but one of them, too weakened, did not survive too.