Italy has allowed the migrant rescue ship Ocean Viking to dock in Sicily after the group urged European Union members to allow 572 people rescued in the Mediterranean over three days to be brought ashore.
The Marseille-based NGO said on Twitter, “Ocean Viking” has received from Italian maritime authorities the long-awaited news that 572 survivors will disembark in Sicily.
The announcement came after the NGO ship carried out one of the largest rescue operations in years on Sunday night, involving a boat that had set off from Libya with 369 men, women and children on board and was in danger of capsizing.
“Such large, unseaworthy wooden boats set off from the Libyan coast have not been encountered by our teams for several years,” Ocean Viking SOS Mediterranee said in a statement earlier.
The operation was the sixth rescue of the Ocean Viking in a matter of days, and it brought the total number of migrants on board the ship to 572.
Since the beginning of summer; the number of crossings where migrants take advantage of the good weather and calm seas has increased, but the number of people lost at sea has also increased.
So far this year, more than 880 migrants have died trying to reach Europe from North Africa, according to the International Organization for Migration.
