The humanitarian organization SOS Mediterranee announced today, Sunday, the rescue of 68 migrants stranded in international waters off the coast of Libya by the ship “Ocean Viking.”
“The Ocean Viking ship rescued 68 people who were on board a wrecked two-story wooden boat that left the city of Zuwara in Libya last night,” the France-based non-governmental organization said in a statement.
The organization added, “Many of them suffer from seasickness and are currently receiving treatment by the medical team of SOS Mediterranee and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies on board the Ocean Viking ship.”
Pictures previously posted by the organization on Twitter showed dozens of migrants crowded on a boat wearing orange life jackets.
At the end of last August, the ship “Ocean Viking”, chartered by the “SOS Mediterranean” organization, rescued 438 migrants in international waters off Libya and Tunisia before heading towards the city of Genoa in northern Italy, where the authorities designated a port to disembark survivors.
The central region of the Mediterranean is the most dangerous migration route in the world, according to the International Organization for Migration.
The United Nations agency estimates that since the beginning of 2023, 2,013 migrants have gone missing in this region, compared to 1,417 throughout 2022.
A boat carrying hundreds of migrants sank off the coast of Greece last June, in one of the worst migration-related disasters in recent years, and 82 bodies were found, while hundreds remained missing.
The Italian authorities detained the Ocean Viking for ten days last July, under the pretext of not complying with safety standards, but allowed it to sail again at a later time.
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