The NGO rescue ship Ocean Viking was seized and fined following its arrival in Brindisi on February 9, when it docked at the port with 261 migrants on board. It's the ship's second administrative seizure in Puglia in less than two months.
The NGO rescue ship Ocean Viking was placed under administrative seizure by the Italian authorities for the second time in less than two months in Puglia, the first being at the end of last year, on December 30.
The ship, that is operated by the French NGO SOS Mediterranée, will remain docked for 20 days. It reached the city of Brindisi last Friday with 261 migrants it had rescued during operations off the Libyan coast.
Following verification of the appropriate rescue procedures by the Port Authority, alleged "violations of the Piantedosi Decree" emerged, say the authorities.
The Decree regulates the rescue operations of NGOs and states that only one rescue can be carried out before the disembarkment at a designated port. In addition to the seizure of its ship, the NGO was also fined.
Unaccompanied girl with puppy, among those on board
The ship arrived on the morning of February 9, with a 30-minute delay to its expected arrival time, which had been initially planned for 9 am. The disembarkation operations began around 10 am.
Disembarking with the migrants, was a puppy who was with an unaccompanied minor, a girl.
Initially, the Ocean Viking had been ordered by the Italian authorities to sail to Ortona, in the province of Chieti. But on February 8, the NGO said that they had had their request to sail to the more southern town of Brindisi approved.
The same ship after its rescue missions at sea should have reached Ortona, in the province of Chieti. On February 8, however, the NGO communicated that the request to disembark in Brindisi had been approved.
Onward transfers
At that point, an emergency meeting was held at the Prefecture to program their arrival for the following day. The authorities decided that those disembarked would then be transferred on to several other Italian provinces, including Molise, Liguria and Marche.
The 63 unaccompanied minors were transferred to the shelter center at Restinco in Brindisi.
According to a medical check run by the Brindisi medical staff, no emergency medical cases were found. A total of ten cases of scabies were found and three girls were found to be pregnant.