OceanViking rescues over 350 people from distress

OceanViking, a rescue ship of SOS Mediterranean  International has rescued over 350 people from distress in many rescue missions, a statement by Seebrücke International has said.

The statement said: “The @SOSMedIntl rescue ship #OceanViking has rescued over 350 people from distress at sea in several rescue missions. Now the ship has been assigned Ancona as a port of safety – a place 1450km away.

“Some of the survivors have already had a very long and stressful time at sea. In one rescue, 25 people were brought safely on board the #OceanViking, who had previously been on board an unseaworthy boat for around 7 days.

“They report that around 60 people died on the way and went overboard. 2 people were in such a critical condition that they had to be evacuated. One of them has since died.

“It is inhumane and undignified that people rescued from distress at sea are expected to endure such a long journey, even though there are harbours that are closer. People must be brought ashore as quickly as possible and given access to medical and psychological treatment.

“In addition to the detention of civilian ships, the policy of assigning distant harbours is an inhumane practice by the Italian authorities and must finally be stopped. The Piantedosi Decree must be abolished, the ships must be released! #FreeTheFleet.”