Ocean Viking rescue ship picks up migrants, hampered by coastguard

VALLETTA, July 3 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The Ocean Viking rescue vessel has pulled more than 40 migrants from the Mediterranean Sea in its latest interventions, aid organization SOS Mediterranean said.

During the first of two rescue operations in Maltese waters, “a Libyan patrol vessel came close to the boat and made the operation complicated,” the organization wrote on Twitter.

The rescued survivors include 15 minors and five women, one of whom is pregnant, SOS Mediterranean said.

Sea-Watch, a Berlin-based rescue organization, put a video on social media showing a small boat, filled with several people, followed by a larger ship. It stated that the Libyan coastguard was following the boat filled with migrants, firing shots. On the video, the vessels can be seen almost colliding.

The Libyan and Tunisian coastguard frequently pick up migrants embarking on risky journeys in small boats across the Mediterranean to reach Europe and take them back to shore.

Aid organizations are critical of migrants being returned to countries such as conflict-ridden Libya.

Many migrant vessels heading for Europe end up in distress. According to United Nations data, more than 720 migrants have died in the central Mediterranean this year. — NNN-AGENCIES