The Norwegian foreign ministry believes a Libyan coast guard vessel fired shots at the Ocean Viking, a Norwegian-flagged migrant rescue vessel, on August 24.

The incident put the vessel, crew and others on board at risk, the Norwegian foreign ministry said in a statement, as reported by the Reuters news agency on Thursday (September 11).

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has requested that the incident be investigated to determine what happened, and that Libyan authorities implement measures to prevent similar incidents from happening again," the Norwegian government said according to Reuters.

The Ocean Viking, which is operated by the international humanitarian organization SOS Mediterranee, has been conducting migrant rescue missions in the Mediterranean since 2019.

Read AlsoEurope demands answers from Libya after rescue boat shooting

What happened on August 24?

On August 24, SOS Mediterranee published pictures of the discharged shells and destroyed portholes on the boat in a post on social media platform X.

Shortly before the attack, the Ocean Viking crew had rescued 87 migrants from a rubber dinghy off the Libyan coast, including nine unaccompanied minors, according to information shared by the organization.

The Libyan coast guard fired "approximately one hundred bullets" in "international waters" against the Ocean Viking, the NGO said in an online statement, denouncing a "violent and deliberate attack" against the migrant rescue ship.

In the statement, SOS Mediterranee also said that "the Ocean Viking was approached by the Libyan patrol vessel, which unlawfully demanded that we leave the area and head north."

This allegedly took place while their team were "actively engaged in searching for the distress case."

'20 minutes of gunfire'

Then, "without any warning or ultimatum, two men aboard the patrol vessel opened fire on our humanitarian ship, unleashing at least 20 relentless minutes of assault gunfire directly at us," the statement reads further.

The bullets reportedly caused holes at the bow of the ship, with several antennas reportedly being destroyed.

Four portholes on the deck also suffered damage as well as three rapid rescue motor boats, alongside other rescue provisions on board.

SOS Mediterranée, which later also released a video about the incident, moreover said that the Ocean Viking crew was forced to quickly place the 87 shipwreck survivors in safety below deck before seeking refuge themselves inside the ship.

"We demand a full investigation into the events of yesterday afternoon and that those responsible for these life-threatening attacks be brought to justice," a spokesperson is quoted as saying in a statement by the organization.

"We also demand an immediate end to all European collaboration with Libya," the statement read further, alluding to long-standing run-ins with Libyan authorities at sea.

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Europe's balancing act with Libya

Libya's coast guard has a track record of engaging in aggressive -- and sometimes reckless -- behavior. Last year, for instance, the private sea rescue organization Mediterranea Saving Humans said a Libyan coast guard patrol boat had fired on their migrant rescue vessel.

The coast guard of Libya is equipped, financed and trained by the EU as well various individual EU countries to help intercept and return migrants before they can reach European shores.

Under the 2017 Italy-Libya agreement, Italy supplied three patrol vessels to Libya. The pact is one of a series of such cooperation agreements signed by Italy, the EU and Libya since early 2017.

Civil society, non-government organizations and rights groups have long objected to such cooperation deal with Libya, urging the EU to withdraw funding.

UN: crimes against humanity in Libya likely

Five years into the 2017 deal, which was renewed in 2020 and again in 2022, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) wrote, "this help comes at the expense of migrants and refugees' human rights, as virtually everyone intercepted at sea by the Libyan coast guard ends up in a Libyan detention center.

"The agreement … supports the system of exploitation, extortion and abuse in which so many migrants feel themselves trapped," referring to the network of migrant centers in Libya, where reports of severe rights abuses and inadequate accommodation abound.

Rights groups have also filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court (ICC), alleging that officials in the EU and its member states as well as members of the Libyan coast guard and others are responsible for past crimes against humanity against migrants and refugees.

In April of 2023, the UN Human Rights Council declared there are "reasonable grounds to believe that crimes against humanity have been committed against Libyans and migrants throughout Libya since 2016."

with Reuters