The Italian coast guard has the rescue vessel “Ocean Viking” for an indefinite period of time. The decision was preceded by a elfstündige inspection in the Sicilian port of Porto Empedocle in advance, informed the French aid organisation SOS Méditerranée in the night to Thursday. The organization spoke of a new level of “regulatory harassment, with the aim to block the life-saving missions of the civil search and rescue vessels”.
According to the Italian coast guard, several “technical and operational deficiencies” were in the inspection of the “Ocean Viking” found. This endangered not only the safety of the ship and its crew, but also those of the refugees, the ship is host to rescue.
migrants in quarantine
The “Ocean Viking” had on 7. July with 180 rescued at sea refugees on Board in the port of Porto Empedocle created. The Rescued were brought to a quarantine ship, they were allowed to leave after two weeks. Also, the “Ocean Viking” and her crew were placed under a two week quarantine, which was lifted on Tuesday. A day later, the ship was set firmly.
SOS Méditerranée, said that the Italian coast had guard as a key justification for the establishment of the “Ocean Viking” given that the ship had carried more people than in the certificate for the equipment of cargo ships, specified. The organization rejected this. In rescue operations, it, that the “Ocean Viking” host is in fact a greater number of people than in the papers of the ship was given. To define this as “passengers”, as the Italian authorities had done this, however, is wrong. Rather, it was in distress cases, Rescued.
