The private rescue ship Geo Barents spent more than 11 hours rescuing 440 people from a boat off Malta overnight. Meanwhile, the Ocean Viking disembarked 92 migrants in the Italian port of Salerno.
Eight women and 30 children are among the 440 migrants rescued by the crew of the Geo Barents, a private rescue ship operated by the medical charity Doctors without Borders (MSF). The migrants were rescued from the Maltese search and rescue (SAR) zone on Tuesday afternoon (April 4).
According to MSF, the rescue operation took more than 11 hours. High seas and bad weather conditions meant that the Geo Barents was headed north on Monday (April 3) in the Central Mediterranean for shelter. They received an alert from the organization Alarm Phone which monitors migrant journeys towards Europe.
Rescue took more than 11 hours
Alarm Phone’s alert caused the Geo Barents to change its course to try and render assistance to a large fishing boat with several decks carrying 440 migrants.
In the early hours of Tuesday, "at 4am, after more than 10 hours of navigation in a stormy sea, our team finally reached the boat in distress," tweeted the crew of the Geo Barents.
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On arrival though, the weather was so bad, that the crew decided they couldn’t directly perform a rescue. So, they stayed near the migrant boat to "monitor the situation and reassure people."
By the early afternoon, weather conditions had calmed enough that the MSF crew was able to get nearer the fishing boat and distribute life jackets and assess the feasibility of the rescue. Eventually, the rescue could be carried out and all 440 people were brought on board the ship.
The rescue was tracked throughout by many, including Sergio Scandura, a senior correspondent at Italy's left-wing Radio Radicale (Radical Radio). He posted regular updates on Twitter, showing the movement of surveillance planes, merchant ships, rescue ships and the migrant boat in the area via marine tracking websites. He also noted how long it took for the Maltese SAR operators to actually take command of the operation.
Evacuated
However, in the night between Tuesday and Wednesday (April 5), one of those rescued, a man who had been unconscious at the time of rescue, was evacuated by helicopter to Malta, MSF said. The man was suffering from "severe dehydration and an associated pathology." No further update has yet been given on the man's condition.
On Wednesday, MSF tweeted that the Italian authorities had informed them that after the "long and challenging rescue that occurred yesterday...100 people will be transshipped to an Italian naval asset off Sicily, while the 339 other survivors will be disembarked in [the southern Italian port of] Brindisi [in Puglia]."
Disembarkation in Salerno
Meanwhile 92 migrants rescued by the Ocean Viking, another private rescue ship, were able to disembark in the southern Italian port of Salerno, near Naples, on Tuesday.
According to SOS Mediterranee, the organization that operates the Ocean Viking, the group includes 47 unaccompanied minors. SOS Mediterranee commented on Twitter that while they are "relieved they reached safety after such a dire journey, we fear for other lives at risk in the central Mediterranean, as unabated attempts to flee Libya persist."
Amadou's tale
One of those who disembarked in Salerno is the unaccompanied 17-year-old minor Amadou who arrived in Libya at the age of 12 after his parents divorced. He told SOS Mediterranee there was "no place for me at home in Guinea Conakry." Amadou says he was placed in three different detention centers in Libya and tried to flee four times by sea before eventually making it on to the Ocean Viking.
According to Italian Interior Ministry data, 28,028 migrants have already arrived in Italy by sea since the beginning of 2023. The figures were last updated on April 4. The majority of arrivals this year so far have been nationals from Ivory Coast, followed by nationals from Guinea, Pakistan, Tunisia, Egypt and Bangladesh in descending order.
Since the beginning of 2023, 3,038 of those arrivals have been unaccompanied minors. Earlier this week, the Italian coast guard also rescued 32 migrants by helicopter from a small island off Lampedusa.
*Not his real name, chosen by SOS Mediterraneee to protect his identity
Also read: Italy, disembarkations and 'non-stop' arrivals over weekend