On February 17, the private rescue ship Geo Barents operated by MSF picked up over 60 migrants from a rubber boat off the Libyan coast. The small vessel was at the time in international waters.

During that operation, it said it also recovered one body, adding that one of the rescued migrants died on board shortly after the operation.

Later that night, the charity picked up another 19 people who were stranded at an abandoned Tunisian offshore oil platform nearby.

The rescuees said that they had swum to the platform after their boat had sprung a leak. They also told MSF that three people had remained on the boat and were now missing.

One of the survivors meanwhile had to be airlifted to a hospital in Malta after showing "critical health signs," MSF said on Twitter.

"All the survivors are now recovering and cared for on the Geo Barents after these traumatic ordeals," MSF said, adding it had asked for permission to disembark at "the closest place of safety possible."

Also read: The 'phantom' boats missing in the Mediterranean

Closed ports and reluctant hosts

However, it is unlikely that the Geo Barents will be given permission to disembark the migrants at a nearby port at all. An initial request to disembark in nearby Bari was denied.

Italy -- the closest European country other than Malta -- issued a decree last year whereby it allocated faraway ports to private rescuers, fording them sometimes to travel up the Adriatic Coast for close to a week.

The so-called Cutro Decree is intended to limit the activities of charity ships in the Mediterranean.

It also specifies that after each rescue mission, charity boats have to immediately register for disembarkation without conducting any further rescues.

Since in the case of the Geo Barents, there were two rescues on the same night, Italian authorities might take issue with the case.

Since, however, the rescues were performed outside of Italy’s search-and-rescue zone, it is not clear to what extent the stipulations of the Cutro Decree can be applied.

Nearby Malta, meanwhile, has all but closed its ports to private rescue missions.

Also read: Geo Barents disembarks 336 people in Ravenna – amid controversy

200 dead on Med route each month

In 2023, Tunisia overtook Libya for the first time as the country with the highest number of Mediterranean Sea departures.

Nearly 2,500 migrants died or were declared missing on migrant routes from North Africa to Europe last year, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

The Mediterranean route is considered to be one of the most dangerous migration routes in the world.

Also read: The women who cross the Mediterranean

with Reuters