History
Completed1986
General characteristics
Length69 metres (226 ft)
Beam15 metres (49 ft)

The Ocean Viking is a humanitarian ship chartered from July 2019 by the SOS Méditerranée association.

The vessel

On 21 July 2019 SOS Méditerranée announced a new rescue campaign off the Libyan coast, using a cargo ship, the Ocean Viking.[1] The approach is supported by the Norwegian authorities, who have given the vessel a flag.[2] The operation costs € 14,000 per day.[3] The vessel, which is 69 m long by 15 m beam, was built in 1986 to serve as a support vessel for oil rigs in the North Sea. It is operated by around thirty people (nine crew members, a search and rescue team and medical personnel)[4] and can carry up to 200 passengers.[5] It is faster and better equipped than the Aquarius.[6] Onboard microphones and cameras will make it possible to record everything that happens on board and around the boat, in order to possibly prove that the work was carried out within a legal framework[7][8] The ship, which will respect[9] the ban on disembarking migrants in Italian ports[10][11] is even banned from refueling in Malta.[12]

Selected list of interventions

During its first outing, four rescue missions on 9, 10 and 11 August 2019,[3][13][14][15] brought the number of refugees on board to 356,[15] to which were added a further 160 from on board the ship Open Arms.[16]

By 29 January 2020, when 407 migrants (recovered after five night rescue operations in less than 72 hours off Libya) disembarked in Taranto,[17] the number of people saved thanks to the operations of this ship had mounted to more than 1,600.[17]

The ship was impounded for five months from July 2020,[18] during which time additional equipment had been added, and released on 21 December 2020. Ocean Viking resumed operations in January 2021,[19] embarking journalists from Mediapart.[20][21] The crew rescued 119 migrants off the Libyan coast on 21 January 2021;[22] two more rescues the next day brought the number of migrants on board to 374.[23][24] They disembarked on 25 January at Augusta in Sicily.[25]

At the end of March 2021, the Ocean Viking was stranded to the south of Malta, pending permission to disembark 116 migrants rescued the previous week.[26] The crew of the ship then tried to rescue further migrants during the sinking of 22 April 2021 in the Mediterranean, but without success.[27]

References

  1. ↑ Migrants : l'ONG SOS-Méditerranée annonce une nouvelle campagne au large de la Libye www.lefigaro.fr 21/07/2019, accessed 8 June 2021.
  2. ↑ SOS Méditerranée et MSF annoncent une nouvelle campagne de secours des migrants en mer Julia Pascual www.lemonde.fr 21 July 2019, accessed 8 June 2021
  3. 1 2 Les migrants secourus par le navire "Ocean Viking" ont dérivé 48 heures et sont "dans un état d'extrême fatigue" 11 August 2019, accessed 8 June 2021
  4. ↑ SOS Méditerranée et MSF annoncent une nouvelle campagne de secours des migrants en mer
  5. ↑ MSF reprend ses opérations de secours en mer face à la détérioration de la situation en Libye et à l'inaction européenne 21/7/2019, accessed 8 June 2021
  6. ↑ À bord de l'Ocean Viking, le nouveau navire de sauvetage de SOS Méditerranée et MSF 2/8/2019, accessed 8 June 2021
  7. ↑ A Marseille, le navire humanitaire « Ocean-Viking » se prépare à partir en Méditerranée 2/8/2019, accessed 8 June 2021
  8. ↑ Migrants: l'Ocean Viking joue la transparence pour déminer les polémiques 17/8/2019, accessed 8 June 2021.
  9. ↑ SOS Méditerranée : “S’il nous est interdit d’entrer dans les eaux italiennes, nous n’irons pas” 8/8/2019 and 17/3/2021, accessed 8 June 2021
  10. ↑ L’Italie adopte un décret antimigrants, avec des amendes records pour ceux qui leur viennent en aide 6/8/2019, accessed 8 June 2021
  11. ↑ Migrants: la justice italienne désavoue Salvini et ouvre ses bras à l’Open Arms 14/8/2019, accessed 8 June 2021
  12. ↑ L’« Ocean-Viking », qui vient en aide aux migrants en Méditerranée, interdit de ravitaillement à Malte 8/8/2019, accessed 8 June 2021
  13. ↑ 85 migrants secourus par l’« Ocean Viking » au large de la Libye 9/8/2019, accessed 8 June 2021
  14. ↑ Méditerranée : plus de 80 migrants secourus ce samedi par l'Ocean Viking 10/8/2019, accessed 8 June 2021
  15. 1 2 Méditerranée: 356 migrants à bord de l’Ocean Viking après un nouveau sauvetage 12/8/2019, accessed 8 June 2021
  16. ↑ Méditerranée : 400 migrants bloqués à bord de navires humanitaires, sans port d’accueil 12/8/2019, accessed 8 June 2021
  17. 1 2 Des rêves de liberté après le cauchemar libyen pour les migrants de l'"Ocean Viking" 29/01/2020, accessed 8 June 2021
  18. ↑ L’Italie immobilise le navire humanitaire « Ocean-Viking » pour raisons « techniques » 23/7/2020, accessed 8 June 2021
  19. ↑ Reprise des opérations de l’Ocean Viking : “Il y a urgence à repartir, il n’y a plus aucun navire humanitaire sur place” (SOS Méditerranée) 21/12/2020, accessed 8 June 2021
  20. ↑ Sauvetages en Méditerranée: l’«Ocean Viking» reprend la mer 10 January 2021, accessed 8 June 2021
  21. ↑ «Ocean Viking»: en Libye, les violences sexuelles détruisent les femmes migrantes 28 January 2021, accessed 8 June 2021
  22. ↑ Une première opération de sauvetage de 119 migrants réussie pour l’«Ocean Viking» 22 January 2021, accessed 8 June 2021
  23. ↑ L’« Ocean-Viking » effectue un troisième sauvetage en 48 heures et secourt 106 personnes 23 January 2021, accessed 8 June 2021
  24. ↑ 374 migrants secourus en 48 heures: et l’«Ocean Viking» prit vie 23 January 2021, accessed 8 June 2021
  25. ↑ L’«Ocean Viking» a débarqué en Sicile 24 January 2021, accessed 8 June 2021
  26. ↑ Le navire humanitaire allemand « Sea-Watch 3 » immobilisé en Italie 22/3/2021, accessed 8 June 2021
  27. ↑ Anatomy of a shipwreck that killed 130 people in the Mediterranean 24 April 2021, accessed 8 June 2021 (subscription needed)
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