The Ocean Viking ship of the NGO SOS Méditerranée entered the port of Marina di Carrara at 9 am on Monday (June 16), reaching the dock after rescuing 70 migrants in the previous days in the waters of the Central Mediterranean.

For the Ocean Viking, this is the third time it docks at the port of Marina di Carrara in a little over three months. For the Tuscan port, this is the 18th arrival of migrants since 2023, the fourth for 2025.

The shelter and disembarking procedures were coordinated by the Prefecture of Massa-Carrara. At the dock, there was a group of volunteers, a medical support group, and police authorities, in addition to the staff of the Port Authority and the Harbor Master's Office.

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The migrants will remain in Tuscany

The 70 migrants will remain in Tuscany, announced the Deputy Mayor of Carrara, Roberta Crudeli, who was present at the moment of the arrival of the ship. She clarified that the migrants will be transferred to different CAS (Emergency Shelter Centers) in Tuscany, but that none of them will remain in the city of Carrara.

The Prefect, Guido Aprea, was also present at the port, and he confirmed that among the 70 migrants, there were two unaccompanied minors while the others were all adult men.

Concerning their nationality, except for one Egyptian, the men were all from Bangladesh.

No particular health concerns were identified, just a few persons with light burns.

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'Carrara is the port most used for migrant arrivals at this time'

Talking about this additional boat arrival, Gianni Lorenzetti, President of the Province of Massa-Carrara, said that the port of Marina di Carrara "at this time is the port that is being used the most" for migrant arrivals, according to the government's directives which indicate to the NGO ships the 'safe port' where then can disembark the migrants on board.

He stated he has some "doubts" on this, considering that what often happens is that "Migrants arrive at Marina di Carrara and then are taken across Italy, including the South: this seems very inhumane and not very credible [as a policy]".

"Certainly the territory has developed a method to shelter migrants which is rapid and humane, using the public facility which is Carrara Fiere: the disembarking of migrants takes place there, not at the port, therefore the conditions of shelter are completely different", he commented.

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