Ocean Viking, Sea Watch vessels disembark migrants in Italy

Rome: The NGO-operated migrant-rescue vessels Ocean Viking and Sea Watch have respectively arrived in Savona and Naples, disembarking a total of over 140 people.

The crews of two migrant-rescue ships, Ocean Viking and Sea-Watch 5, who completed their rescues last week have now arrived in the ports of Savona and Naples to disembark more than140 migrants.

Ocean Viking had 73 people on board when it arrived in Savona, on June 23, after three days sailing from the rescue area, the crew on board said. The ship Sea-Watch 5 had 69 migrants on board as it arrived in Naples on Sunday, June 22.

Operations to disembark the passengers, coordinated by local authorities and organizations, were completed successfully.

Nearly all the passengers rescued in the southern Mediterranean Sea by the Ocean Viking vessel operated by the organization Sos Méditerranée and taken to the port of Savona, in the northwestern Liguria region, were from Bangladesh. They included six unaccompanied minors.

Doctors from the maritime health department and the local health authority ASL carried out the first medical checkups while the migrants were still on board the rescue vessel after some cases of scabies were reported by the NGO.

The Red Cross set up a hosting area inside the cruise terminal together with the authorities involved.

Roughly 50 adult migrants were transferred by bus to a number of facilities in an area between Genoa and La Spezia, in Liguria. Others will be hosted in the province of Savona while the minors are set to be taken by bus to a special center, accompanied by two teachers.

The organization SOS Méditerranée, which operates the Ocean Viking, once again criticized the Italian authorities for forcing them to sail “over 1,100 kilometers from the rescue area” before disembarking.

“Such a long trip is illogical, it is inhuman”, the NGO said.”The people on board were exhausted, in urgent need of care, protection and rest”, noted the organization, adding that allocating a faraway port was like “denying rescue: the assigned port must be closer to enable humanitarian rescue vessels to return to the areas at risk as quickly as possible — for the sake of those who were saved at sea and for those who are still risking their lives and must be promptly rescued,” it added.

The NGO-run rescue ship Sea-Watch 5 meanwhile reached the port of Naples late on Sunday morning.

The number of people who actually disembarked was counted as 69, while one migrant was transferred prior to arrival to Malta for medical treatment.

The operation to disembark migrants, coordinated by the Prefecture of Naples, went smoothly as part of a plan agreed during a preparatory meeting summoned by Prefect Michele di Bari, which involved the municipality of Naples’s welfare council, local health authority ASL Napoli 1, port authorities, the maritime health department, the regional civil protection, police forces, firefighters, the Italian Red Cross and the local chapter of Catholic charity Caritas.

After identification procedures and an initial medical checkup, the migrants were transferred to the Residence of the Ospedale del Mare hospital made available by ASL Napoli 1 Centro to continue police operations and checkups.

Subsequently, organizers told ANSA that the adult migrants were set to be taken to an emergency hosting center set up by regional authorities while the six unaccompanied minors were taken to special facilities for underage migrants.