About 800 migrants rescued in the Mediterranean are aboard the Sea-Eye 4, the NGO Sea-Eye said on Thursday. Helped by the Rise Above ship of the NGO Lifeline, the humanitarian ship rescued 397 people on Wednesday during six operations.
A second rescue was then carried out from a wooden boat on which were 400 migrants. The victim of a waterway, it threatened to sink, and several people without life jackets were already in the water when the NGOs arrived. The Maltese rescue services, although located in the area, did not “respond to any of the calls for help”, according to the Sea-Eye press release.
Last night, #OceanViking mobilized to assist ~ 400 people in distress 10 hours from her position. People were recovered by # SeaEye4 before our arrival on scene. We have assisted # SeaEye4 & over 800 survivors onboard their ship with extra food supplies last night and this morning. pic.twitter.com/CVGbC2lCqK
– SOS MEDITERRANEE (@SOSMedIntl) November 4, 2021
A “very stressful” situation
“There are now more than 800 people on board the Sea-Eye 4”, specifies the German NGO. The boat is heading for the island of Lampedusa (Italy), located “a few hours” from the place of rescues and which “therefore constitutes the fastest port to be reached” by the ship. This is an “unprecedented and very stressful” situation according to the NGO: “the ship depends on the rapid allocation of a safe port”.
SOS-Méditerranée, another Marseille-based NGO which charters the Ocean Viking ship, provided food to the Sea-Eye 4 to deal with the situation. “The state of emergency is now in force on the Sea-Eye 4,” added the president of the German NGO, Gorden Isler. “Any delay by the authorities endangers the health and life of those rescued and our crew. “
“It is shameful to see how Malta repeatedly shirks its responsibilities and ignores distress calls,” also blasted the president of Sea-Eye. Italy is one of the main entry points into Europe for migrants from North Africa. The latter come mainly from Tunisia and Libya, from where departures are up sharply compared to previous years.