Rome, Sept. 5, (dpa/GNA) - The Mediterranean-based rescue ship Ocean Viking was granted permission to dock at the southern Italian port of Taranto on Sunday, in order to drop off 459 rescued migrants it has been carrying.
The ship, which belongs to humanitarian organization SOS Mediterranée, reached the port early on Sunday, after waiting for more than a week for authorities to give the necessary permission.
According to the organization, the ship had gathered up people in distress in 10 different rescue operations.
However, the ship Geo Barents of the organization Doctors without Borders is still waiting to be allocated a port. It has 267 migrants on board.
So far, four applications to make port in Malta and six to do so in Italy have been ignored, the organization said.
The German organization Resqship reported on the weekend that it had received an SOS from a wooden boat with 300 people on board who have been travelling for days without food or water, according to reports.
The motorized sailing boat Nadir provided the people with assistance before the Italian coastguard took them on board.
The Nadir had discovered another wooden boat carrying 76, including one infant and several minors. After providing some assistance, the boat Sea Eye 4 of German humanitarian organization Sea Eye took the people on board.
The organization reported cases of sea sickness, dehydration, and infected wounds.
Many people make the dangerous crossing from northern Africa to the EU via the Mediterranean each year, hoping for a better life in Europe. The boats are often overcrowded and unsafe.
According to the UN, more than 1,000 people have died or are missing in the Mediterranean this year alone. The Italian Interior Ministry counted more than 59,000 arrivals of migrants via boats this year, a significant increase compared to the year before, when around 40,000 arrivals were recorded in the same period.
Experts have suggested that the increase is largely down to the deteriorating situation in Libya, where a civil war is raging.
Right-wing parties in Italy, who are on track to win elections in three weeks’ time, have campaigned to stop the arrivals from Africa.
GNA