The migrant-rescue ship Mediterranea, run by the NGO Mediterranea Saving Humans, docked on Tuesday (November 4) at Porto Empedocle, Sicily, after its captain said it was necessary to disembark the 92 passengers on board to "protect their safety, health and security".

The vessel's team rescued the passengers in three different operations on November 2 and 3. A doctor with the health ministry's maritime, air and border unit USMAF checked the migrants' health condition on board.

The NGO's team explained that tension had grown on the vessel as "survivors were in fact already physically and psychologically worn out" and feared that, with further delays in disembarkation, they "risked deportation to Libya and threatened desperate self-injuries."

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The port originally assigned by Italian authorities for disembarkation was Livorno, but the NGO requested on Monday afternoon to dock and disembark all passengers in Porto Empedocle, Sicily.

The port of Livorno "is 630 nautical miles from the rescue area (nearly 1,200 km), a journey of over four days," the team from Mediterranea Saving Humans explained.

"Since the afternoon of November 3, moreover, bad weather has hit the Strait of Sicily, with mistral winds blowing at over 20 knots and two-meter waves," they added.

The NGO said its vessel decided to dock at the Sicilian port after authorities failed to respond to its request.

"While no answer has yet been provided by Rome to the ship's requests, the captain and mission chief reported the situation to the port authorities of Porto Empedocle, who gave their green light" and allowed the vessel to enter the port.

"Now we are asking to respond to the request to disembark all the people rescued, starting with minors and the most serious medical cases," they said.

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Passengers include 31 unaccompanied minors

In the afternoon of November 3, the NGO had alerted the State Attorney's Office at the Juvenile Court of Palermo that 31 unaccompanied minors were on the boat. Passengers also included a pregnant woman.

"Prosecutors have asked the Interior and Transport Ministries to order the disembarkation of minors as soon as possible in Porto Empedocle. We have requested that all 92 rescued people be allowed to safely disembark in Porto Empedocle, but we have received no answer," Mediterranea explained before taking the decision to dock in Sicily.

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Three rescue operations in two days

The 92 migrants were rescued in three different operations between November 2 and 3. The first two took place between the morning and early afternoon of November 2, when the Mediterranea vessel rescued a total of 65 people in the Libyan search and rescue zone.

In particular, 37 people were rescued from a fiberglass boat and 28 others from a dinghy that was sinking after three days at sea, during which passengers had no food or drinks. In addition to several minors, the NGO reported that many women were among the passengers, mainly Sudanese nationals.

Overall, the migrants hailed from Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Many of those rescued were abused and tortured in detention camps in Libya, according to members of Mediterranea Saving Humans.

Meanwhile, on November 3, the Mediterranea ship detected a boat in distress some 13 miles south-east of the Sicilian island of Lampedusa and rescued the 27 people on board. The small fiberglass vessel was overcrowded and had no life vests, the NGO's team said.

"We immediately contacted the Italian coast guard's control centre" on the island, which "told us they couldn't intervene with cutters given they were all deployed" in other ongoing search and rescue operations, the NGO explained, adding that "at this point we coordinated with the National Maritime Recue Centre."

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