(On board the Ocean Viking in the Mediterranean) Fights, suicide attempts, physical threats to the crew: the tension has become such, on board of the Ocean Viking , that the humanitarian ship which collected 180 migrants in the Mediterranean declared themselves Friday in “state of emergency”, a first.
Posted on July 3 2020 at 14 h 02 Updated to 15 h 35
Shahzad ABDUL
France Media Agency
After the two men who threw themselves overboard in a desperate gesture the day before, the day on Friday began before the distribution of breakfast with a suicide attempt by hanging, followed by a fight involving several of the migrants rescued by the SOS Mediterranean ship during four separate operations, the 15 and 30 June.
Since then, “the situation on board has deteriorated to the point that the safety of 180 Survivors and the crew can no longer be guaranteed, “explained SOS Mediterranean, which charters the ambulance on board of which an AFP journalist is on board and for which the NGO claims an” immediate “landing.
Given the “extreme tension” that reigns there, the Ocean Viking declared itself “in a state of emergency, a first” for a SOS Méditerranée's boat, whose rescue operations at sea for 4 and a half years had started with the Aquarius, Laurence Bondard, spokesperson, told AFP.
On the deck of the boat, the days are shared for 48 hours between moments of calm, when most of the survivors remain for a large part in the containers which serve as their shelter against the oppressive heat, at sea, and the blood strokes of some of them.
PHOTO FLAVIO GASPERINI, AP
The migrants on board the Ocean Viking were rescued during four separate operations, the 25 and 30 June.
Since Thursday, several fights have broken out, mainly between ethnic groups, and six suicide attempts have been recorded.
The bridge is now divided into several groups: a majority of migrants, approximately 130, who are patiently waiting to be able to reach the shores of Europe after fleeing Libya; an agitated minority, for which SOS Mediterranean requested in the afternoon a medical evacuation on the grounds of “acute psychological distress”, 44 Tunisians, Moroccans and Egyptians; between these two groups, the NGO team, in an orange jumpsuit, which had to double its workforce on deck for safety reasons.
“Not safe”
At times, the whole team is even mobilized to calm the spirits. But since Friday, the crew has also been targeted by these threats – sometimes of death -, emanating from the same group.
Blocked for more than a week at sea, some migrants have developed paranoia, explains SOS Mediterranean, thinking in particular that the NGO, in cahoots with the Italian authorities, would earn a little more money every day if she kept them on board.
“I don't feel safe, we have to find a port now, it's a question of safety”, explains Ludovic, one of the seafarers already present at the time of the Aquarius, summarizing the general feeling of the team.
It has been a week since the ship made its first request to allocate a port to disembark these people, but after seven requests in as many days to the Italian and Maltese authorities – one of the rescues has was carried out on waters dependent on these two countries, while the other three were done in those of Malta -, the Ocean Viking received a negative answer from both countries.
In the immediate future, regarding the request for medical evacuation, Italy offered… the telephone number of a psychologist, deplored SOS Mediterranean, for whom the current situation is the “direct consequence of a long and unnecessary blocking at sea ”.
“I am shocked by the response from the Italians. We’ve been doing this for almost five years [les sauvetages] and we’ve never seen anything like it, in terms of violence. We're talking about a very worrying situation, there could be deaths. We need help, “said Nicholas Romaniuk, the head of rescue operations on board.
“It was Malta that alerted us and gave us the position of one of the boats in distress and now they don't pick up the phone. There is no reason for these people to stay on board, either legal or moral. International maritime law is clear, they must disembark as quickly as possible in a safe port, “he insists.
In the afternoon, the Ocean Viking went to position off Sicily. And waits for a signal to disembark.
