The ''Ocean Viking'' is a humanitarian ship chartered from July 2019 by the

SOS Méditerranée ''SOS Méditerranée'' is a European, maritime-humanitarian organization for the rescue of life at sea, currently operating in the Mediterranean sea in international waters north of Libya. The organization chartered the ''Aquarius'' and more rece ...

association.

The vessel

On 21 July 2019 SOS Méditerranée announced a new rescue campaign off the

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

n coast, using a cargo ship, the ''Ocean Viking''. The approach is supported by the

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

authorities, who have given the vessel a flag. The operation costs € 14,000 per day.Les migrants secourus par le navire "Ocean Viking" ont dérivé 48 heures et sont "dans un état d'extrême fatigue"
11 August 2019, accessed 8 June 2021 The vessel, which is 69 m long by 15 m beam, was built in 1986 to serve as a support vessel for oil rigs in the North Sea. It is operated by around thirty people (nine crew members, a search and rescue team and medical personnel) and can carry up to 200 passengers. It is faster and better equipped than the ''

Aquarius Aquarius may refer to: Astrology * Aquarius (astrology), an astrological sign * Age of Aquarius, a time period in the cycle of astrological ages Astronomy * Aquarius (constellation) * Aquarius in Chinese astronomy Arts and entertainme ...

''. Onboard microphones and cameras will make it possible to record everything that happens on board and around the boat, in order to possibly prove that the work was carried out within a legal framework The ship, which will respect the ban on disembarking migrants in Italian ports is even banned from refueling in Malta.

Selected list of interventions

During its first outing, four rescue missions on 9, 10 and 11 August 2019,Méditerranée: 356 migrants à bord de l’Ocean Viking après un nouveau sauvetage
12/8/2019, accessed 8 June 2021 brought the number of refugees on board to 356, to which were added a further 160 from on board the ship '' Open Arms''. By 29 January 2020, when 407 migrants (recovered after five night rescue operations in less than 72 hours off Libya) disembarked in

Taranto Taranto (, also ; ; nap, label= Tarantino, Tarde; Latin: Tarentum; Old Italian: ''Tarento''; Ancient Greek: Τάρᾱς) is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Taranto, serving as an important com ...

, Des rêves de liberté après le cauchemar libyen pour les migrants de l'"Ocean Viking"
29/01/2020, accessed 8 June 2021 the number of people saved thanks to the operations of this ship had mounted to more than 1,600. The ship was impounded for five months from July 2020, during which time additional equipment had been added, and released on 21 December 2020. ''Ocean Viking'' resumed operations in January 2021, embarking journalists from

Mediapart ''Mediapart'' is an independent French investigative online newspaper created in 2008 by Edwy Plenel, former editor-in-chief of ''Le Monde''. ''Mediapart'' is published in French, English and Spanish. ''Mediapart's'' income is solely derived ...

. The crew rescued 119 migrants off the Libyan coast on 21 January 2021; two more rescues the next day brought the number of migrants on board to 374. They disembarked on 25 January at Augusta in

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

. At the end of March 2021, the ''Ocean Viking'' was stranded to the south of

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

, pending permission to disembark 116 migrants rescued the previous week. The crew of the ship then tried to rescue further migrants during the sinking of 22 April 2021 in the Mediterranean, but without success.Anatomy of a shipwreck that killed 130 people in the Mediterranean
24 April 2021, accessed 8 June 2021 (subscription needed)

References

{{Reflist Sea rescue organizations European migrant crisis Immigrant rights activism Humanitarian aid organizations in Europe Refugee aid organizations in Europe