34 migrants rescued; safe harbour sought

ROME: The rescue vessel Ocean Viking has taken in 34 migrants from a sailing boat after they were caught up in bad weather, the NGOs SOS Mediterranee and Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said yesterday.

SOS Mediterranee said on Twitter that the migrants were rescued “after the situation on their 14m vessel became one of emergency”.

Among those rescued were one pregnant woman and a 1-year-old child, the NGO continued.

This means that the Ocean Viking now has more than 80 migrants on board the ship.

On Sunday, 50 migrants, including 12 minors and a pregnant woman, were rescued in the central Mediterranean by the rescue ship.

The Ocean Viking is looking for a safe harbour. It has so far been denied entry to Malta and Italy.

Meanwhile, the rescue vessel Alan Kurdi from the German organisation Sea-Eye is also still looking for a safe port.

The ship still has five people on board, after Malta took some of the 13 migrants who were rescued to land on Monday.

Sea-Eye had earlier made a public plea for help to Maltese authorities and said a 17-year-old Tunisian had tried to jump overboard twice in what a spokesperson said was a suicide attempt.

The ship has now requested help from other EU countries. Sea-Eye said that Italy has also denied it entry, even under the new government.

“If the new Italian government wants to show people that (former interior minister) Salvini’s policies do not need Salvini to show force towards rescuers and rescuees, then people like you have achieved your political goal,” said Sea-Eye spokesman Gorden Isler. |