Ocean Viking rescues 50 migrants off Libya

(8 Sep 2019) Under cloudy skies and intermittent rain, 50 migrants on an overcrowded and fragile rubber boat were rescued by the Ocean Viking on Sunday, some 14 nautical miles (16 statute miles) from Libya.
The Norwegian-flagged Ocean Viking is jointly run by SOS Mediterranee and Doctors Without Borders. An AP journalist aboard the charity ship witnessed the rescue of a pregnant woman close to full term, 12 minors and 37 men, all from sub-Saharan Africa.
"God bless you!" one of the men told the rescuers as they passed life vests to the wet and barefoot passengers.
At least two people feeling ill collapsed upon arrival, while three others were soaked in fuel and another two were suffering from mild hypothermia.
The rescue occurred 14 hours after the Ocean Viking, as well as the Libyan, Italian and Maltese authorities, the UNHCR and Moonbird, a humanitarian observation plane, received an email by Alarm Phone, a hotline for migrants, alerting that a rubber boat carrying 50 people on board without a working engine had called urgently for help.
The Ocean Viking, which was already in the Libyan Search and Rescue zone of the Central Mediterranean informed all authorities that it was beginning an active search for the migrant boat.
Throughout the morning the charity ship chased several objects that had been spotted on the horizon including a floating palm tree with fishing gear, and an empty fishing canoe, believing they could be the migrants.
Also throughout the morning contact was attempted with the Libyan authorities without success.
The AP journalist on board witnessed at least three phone calls made by the Ocean Viking to the Libyan Joint Rescue and Coordination Center that went unanswered.
The blue rubber boat with the 50 migrants was spotted on the horizon next to a fishing boat with binoculars at 1:30pm local time (11:30GMT).
The fishing boat did not respond to radio contact by the Ocean Viking which subsequently launched its rescue boats into the water. At 2:30 pm the Libyan Coastguard finally answered the phone and the Ocean Viking informed them of the imminent rescue they were about to perform.
A European Union plane taking part in the Operation Sophia overflew the Ocean Viking, the dinghy and the fishing boat multiple times shortly before the people were rescued.
As per maritime law, the ship has requested the Libyan, Italian and Maltese authorities for a place of safety to disembark the rescue migrants.
International migration and human rights bodies say Libya is not a place of safety.

Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter:   / ap_archive  
Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​
Instagram:   / apnews  


You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...