The Ocean Viking requests, for the fourth time, a safe harbor for the 572 survivors on board

“This is our fourth request to the competent maritime authorities”. The NGO SOS Méditerranée is once again calling for help. With 572 people rescued between Thursday July 1 and Sunday July 4, the Ocean Viking “needs a safe place to disembark, as quickly as possible”, insists Claire, communications officer on board the humanitarian ship, in a video posted on Twitter Wednesday July 7.

>> To (re) read: More than 550 migrants rescued in four days by the Ocean Viking

“There are women, men, children, a four month old baby (…) We have cases of total exhaustion, dehydration and seasickness,” she says. “The heat on board – while many are lying on the deck in the sun – adds to the suffering due to their terrible crossing in the Mediterranean and the abuses suffered in Libya”, reports SOS Mediterranean.

In addition, the NGO assures that by Friday, they will run out of food rations and medicines for passengers.

These are all factors that cause tensions on board. On Wednesday, a survivor jumped into the water, tired of not knowing when he could touch solid ground. The young man was picked up by the crew and brought back to the aid ship. “If I knew when we will land, I could hold on. But I can’t take this uncertainty any longer,” he said.

SOS Méditerranée tirelessly repeats that “it is the duty of the authorities to provide assistance to these people as quickly as possible”, without being heard for the time being.

The Ocean Viking was the only humanitarian vessel present off the Libyan coast. Most of those active in the central Mediterranean are blocked by the Italian authorities for administrative reasons. The most recent is the Geo Barents of Médecins sans frontières (MSF), immobilized in Sicily on July 2, after having disembarked in mid-June more than 400 migrants rescued off Libya.