OPERATION - 22-29 January 2020

SITUATION RECAP

Last update 29/01/2020 at 12h30 (All times in UTC+1h)

– On the 24th of January, at 05h05 all 92 survivors are safely brought on board

– On the 25th of January, at 05h08 all 59 survivors are safely brought on board

– On the 25th of January, at 19h12 all 72 survivors are safely brought on board

– On the 26th of January, at 22h38 all 102 survivors are safely brought on board

– On the 27th of January, at 02h10 all 82 survivors are safely brought on board

– On the 27th of January, Ocean Viking request a Medical evacuation to the Maltese RCC. At 15:30 4 survivors were winched on board a Maltese Helicopter.

– On the 27th of January, at 22h44 Italian MRCC indicates Taranto (Italy) as place of safety.

– On the 29th of January, at 12h30 the disembarkation of the 403 survivors are complete

January 22, 2020

07:45 Ocean Viking leaves the port of Pozzallo towards the central Med

Noon position: 36°24.3′N 014°07.0′E

Wind: SE Beaufort 3

Sea state 3

January 23, 2020

Noon position: 33° 19.2′N 012°46.3′E

Wind: SE Beaufort 3

Sea state 3/4

From 15:00, in position 33°23,5’N 012°46,2’E, Ocean Viking (OV) stops to conduct drills. RHIB s are launched for rescue procedure exercises

Wind: E Beaufort 3

Sea state 3

At 17:15 drills are complete

January 24, 2020

Ocean Viking is copied in an email from Alarm Phone to LYJRCC informing about a boat in distress.
“Dear sirs, We received a distress call of a boat with 95 people (15 women, 4 children) started from Zawiya around 10 pm local time. Position N 33 11 4580 E 012 54 4870 (time 1:54 German time) They are urgently asking for help.”

Ocean Viking Position: 33° 21.7′ N 012° 42.5′ E

Ocean Viking sends an email to LYJRCC and reports position received by Alarm Phone. LYJRCC is informed that Ocean Viking proceeds towards the Target, about 7 Nautical Miles from her.

Ocean Viking will continue to update.

Alan Kurdi, who is also in the Libyan SAR, offers Ocean Viking collaboration if needed.

She will remain in standby

02:50 Ocean Viking (in psn 33° 16.5’N 012°46.8’E) has visual contact with some lights from the boat in distress

Ocean Viking informs LYJRCC (copying ITMRCC, MTJRCC, EUNAVFOR MED, Alarm Phone and Alan Kurdi) by email about possible distress situation and that 2 RHIB will be launched in water: “Dear Sirs, At 0150Z Ocean Viking spotted some light coming from the given position. Ocean Viking position: 33° 16.5’N 012°46.8’E Ocean Viking is going to launch our RHIBs and investigate […]”

03:16 Ocean Viking launches her first RIHB

Easy 1 and Easy 2 assess
condition of rubber boat. Rubber boat found in unseaworthy,
overcrowded, with about 95 people on board, women and babies, no lifejackets
all exposed to the elements. The starboard sponson is bended, crowd agitated.

distress phase: the boat and its occupants
are threatened by grave and imminent danger and require immediate assistance.

03:33 Ocean Viking informs LYJRCC about the distress situation and that the occupants of the rubber boat will be recovered onto Ocean Viking

03:39 Life jackets distribution finished

03:56 First survivors are on board Ocean Viking

Rubber boat in position 33°17.5′ N 012°-45.0′ E is marked with “2020 01 24 OV” and left adrift

At position 33°17.8’N 012°45.5’E, with 20 knots of wind and 1.5/2.0 mts of waves, Ocean Viking received last survivors from one of her RIHBs and all 92 survivors are on board

Latitude: 33.296
Longitude: 12.758

05:16 Rescue is completed. All RHIB s on board Ocean Viking

05:36 Ocean Viking informs LYJRCC (with ITMRCC, RCCMALTA, EUNAVFORMed, Alan Kurdi and AlarmPhone in copy) about rescue completion

Ocean Viking emails to the Libyan Join Rescue Coordination Center copy to Italian and Maltese Coordination Centers also, as well to EUNAVFORMED sending the Maritime Incident Report and asking for Place of Safety. 92 survivors. 39 men, 15 women and 38 minors, among them 4 pregnant women and 2 babies. Nationalities: Somalia, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Guinea Conakry, Mali; Senegal, Guinea Bissau, Benin and Gambia

09:34 Ocean Viking receives an email from LYJRCC designating Tripoli (Libya) as Place of Safety

“ […] under the International Convention on maritime
search and rescue to which Libya is a state party, a rescue is only
considered as completed once rescued people have been disembarked in a place
of safety (As define in the Annex to the 1979 SAR Convention, paragraph 1.3.2
and in the International Maritime Organization 2004 Rescue Guidelines)
It is within this framework that the European
Commission and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees issued clear
positions stating that currently Libya does not meet the criteria for being
designated as a place of safety for the purpose of disembarkation following
rescue at sea (https://www.refworld.org/docid/5b8d02314.html
I understand that among the survivors on board there
are people, including women and unaccompanied minors, who say that if
returned to Libya, they would be in danger of being subjected to severe
abuses.
In light of this clear guidance and international law
Provisions, we are not in a position to head towards a Libyan port, which
cannot be considered as a place of safety for rescued people.

I respectfully request that, as the JRCC coordinating,
you please provide with the indication of a place of safety which fulfils all
requirements […]”

January 25, 2020

Alarm Phone informs by email: “ Dear Sirs, We received a distress call from a boat with 50 people (8 women, some children) started from Sabratha around 10.50 pm local time. The boat is a blue wooden boat. The Thuraya phone number on the boat is +88 216 5554 2875 Position N 33 10 907 E 012 31 072 (time 2:52 CET) They are urgently asking for help. There is water entering the boat. Only a few of them have life vests.” Ocean Viking Position: 33° 15.1′ N 012° 29.1’E

Ocean Viking alters Course accordingly

Ocean Viking is Heading towards the position, about 8 NM away

03:46 Ocean Viking (in psn 33° 14.6’N 012°31.5’E ) has visual on some lights from the reported boat in distress and also radar contact

“Dear Sirs, At 02:46z Ocean Viking spotted the lights of the wooden boat in the water Ocean Viking position: 33° 14.6’N 012°31.5’E Ocean Viking is going to launch our RHIBs and investigate

We will keep you updated”

04:13 Life jackets distribution starts

“Dear Sirs, We are informing you that at 03:15z at position 33° 14.6 N 012° 29.6 E we assessed the situation with 2 RHIBs: the wooden boat is unseaworthy, overcrowded, with about 50 people on board, no lifejackets all exposed to the elements. The people on board are in danger and I have every reason to believe that the distress phase exists. The UNCLOS (Article 98) and SOLAS (Chapter V, Regulation 33-1) conventions as well as the IMO Resolution MSC.167 (78) bound me to proceed to the assistance of the people on board the boat in distress. Therefore, I inform you that M/V Ocean Viking will provide immediate assistance to these people in distress and rescue them without delay.

My ship has the capacity to recover all of the people, to provide medical care and to transfer them to a place of safety in a reasonable period of time.”

04:25 Life jackets distribution finished

04:40 First survivors are on board Ocean Viking

Wooden boat (2 engines) in position 33° 15,0′ N 012°29,7 E is marked “2020 01 22 OV” and left adrift

On position 33°14.9’N 012°29.2’E, Ocean Viking received last survivors from one of her RIHBs and all the 59 survivors are on board.

Latitude: 33.249
Longitude: 12.487

05:15 Ocean Viking informs by email LYJRCC (copying ITMRCC, RCCMALTA, EUNAVFOR MED and AlarmPhone) about rescue completion.

“We received a distress call from a boat with 60 people,
which we are told includes many women, some of them pregnant, as well as many
children. The boat started from Sabratha. The Thuraya phone number on the
boat is +88 216 2120 2153
Position N33 25 229 E012 30 226
(time 07:00 CET)

They are urgently asking for help.”

Alan Kurdi is closer to the Alarm Phone reported boat in distress in position 33° 25,229 N 012° 30.226′ E. Alan Kurdi is 6,7 NM, Ocean Viking is 9,7 NM. Ocean Viking is ready to render assistance in case of need.

“Dears Sirs,
Please find attached Maritime Incident Report for the
SAR operation conducted by MV Ocean Viking on the 25th of January of 2020.
[…] Currently there are 151 (92 from 24th Jan + 59 from 25th of Jan) rescued
people on board the MV Ocean Viking.
On the 24th of January, JRCC Tripoli communicated
Tripoli (Libya) as a place of safety for the disembarkation of 92 survivors.
MV Ocean Viking responded the same day that Libyan ports cannot be considered
as a place of safety and requested an alternative PoS to disembark survivors
on board. No response has been received from JRCC Tripoli.

We respectfully request that […] please provide the indication of a place of safety […]
which fulfils all requirements under all applicable international laws, where
the 151 survivors can be safely and promptly disembarked.”

Fiberglass boat with 72 to 120 or 150 people. Departure from ZAWIYA. New position 34° 21′ E 012° 43.

Ocean Viking acknowledge the message and proceed towards the Target. As per previous phone call with MTMRCC duty officer, Ocean Viking will keep updated on the situation

Maltese officer informs that the plane in the area reports a fiber-glass white and red boat in position 34 36N 012 47E, 50 people, 8 knots, bearing 350

“ We received a new position from the people on the boat that left from Zawiyya around 10pm yesterday evening local time (24. January 2020). They say they are around 80 people (including 10 children and 20 women). The latest known position is (from 16.38 CET): 16:38 CET, N 34°41’93”, E 012°48’772″ (in the Malta SAR-Zone) They informed us that their gasoline is finished, and that the wind is increasing. They say the situation is very tense and are afraid of drowning. […]”

Ocean Viking informs that the boat is not Underway, and it is drifting. Maltese MRCC duty officer asks to Ocean Viking to not intervene.

Maltese duty officer gives permission to launch the RHIBs and perform a first assessment from the water, but any case, a Maltese Patrol Vessel will be in the area in two hours to perform the rescue

18:15 First assessment: the boat is listing on the port side, the transom is very low in the water, possibly water inside the boat. There is a high risk of capsize

18:47 First survivors are on board Ocean Viking

On position 34 45.1 N 012 49.0 E , Ocean Viking received last survivors from one of her RIHBs and all the 72 survivors are on board.

Latitude: 34.752
Longitude: 12.817

19:21 Boat is marked « SAR 25 01 2020 OV” in position 34° 45.2′ N 012 49.3′ E

The transfer to the Maltese Patrol Vessel is not possible because the vessel is engaged in other rescues

January 26, 2020

White rubber boat in position 33 23N 013 55E with 80 people on board, 3 knots.

Dark green dinghy in position 33 29 N 014 01 E Heading NNW with 50/60 People on board, 4 knots, is reported by Libyan Coast Guard

“Dears
Sirs,
MV
Ocean Viking received Navtext message OA27 regarding a dark green dinghy in
distress.
MV
Ocean Viking in current MV Position 35-17.5N / 013-04.3E at 1320Z COG 155 SOG
6.5 is Heading towards a potential interception Course according to the last
position given and speed for render assistance.”
The
previous NAVTEXT OA26 was referring to a white rubber boat in the vicinity of
the green one.”

14:36 Libyan Coast Guard replied to the previous email informing they do not have a current possibility for any rescue operation

Rubber boat in position 33 47N 014 54E with 80 people on board, 3 knots Heading NNE.

17:53 Ocean Viking asks by phone MTMRCC if there is any updated position for the distress cases. Doesn’t get any answer because the duty officer is very busy

ITMRCC transfer the call to MTMRCC and they ask Ocean Viking to call them back in 10 minutes

Mt RCC gives new position 33 59N 013 51E for the green dark dinghy 10 min ago (case MT 68) and 33 55N 014 00E for the white rubber boat 5 min ago (case MT 67)

21:02 Ocean Viking in position 34° 11.5’ N 013° 46.1’ E has visual contact with some lights and also Radar contact to 1.5 nautical miles with the probably boat in distress

21:18 Rescue RAFT in the water, needed for offload people from the highly overcrowded boat

21:20 First assessment: the boat is overcrowded, could be 80 people on board including a lot of babies, about 20 women and about 50 men

On position 34 12.1 N 013 47.0 E , Ocean Viking received last survivors from one of her RIHBs and all the 102 survivors are on board.

Latitude: 34.199
Longitude: 13.786

22:50 Black Rubber Boat is marked « SAR 26 01 2020 OV” in position 34° 11.8′ N 013 47.5′ E

January 27, 2020

Ocean Viking informs about the position of the last rescue and that all the survivors are safely on board

Ocean Viking, in close contact in the last hours with MTMRCC, informs that the best ETA of interception is about 45 minutes

On position 34 27.5 N 014 09.8 E , Ocean Viking received last survivors from one of her RIHBs and all the 82 survivors are on board.

Latitude: 34.457
Longitude: 14.165

Maltese Officer on duty informs MT Patrol Vessel is 1h20 away, just if needed

Ocean Viking informs rescue completed of 82 survivors and that the previous one were 102 survivors

“At 0130Z Ocean Viking finished the rescue of the light grey rubber boat, 82 survivors in Maltese SRR. Correction on the previous rescue: At 2200Z Ocean Viking finished the rescue of the black rubber boat, 102 survivors in Libya SRR.”

“Female patient severe fuel burn which affect 15% of her body. 2^nd degree burn mainly. Pain management is successful with morphine. She is traveling with her three children (6yo, 8yo and 17yo). For evacuation, medical team recommends her to be transported horizontally.”

“If the situation is deemed as very urgent an aerial medical evacuation can be made available once the aerial asset is readily available (estimate of availability is of 1.5hrs) however due to space restrictions only two patients can be taken on board. RCC MT for the time being suggests that you continue proceeding north and seek also the assistance of other better able RCCs which may be willing or in a better position to assist.”

MTMRCC request more medical information and confirms medevac for the patient and her 3 children

Latitude: 36.277
Longitude: 13.83

“be informed that the Ministry of Interior has assigned TARANTO as port of destination for M/V OCEAN VIKING with 403 PoB.”

January 29, 2020

The 403 survivors are on land

Latitude: 40.478
Longitude: 17.219

17:00 Ocean Viking leaves the port of Taranto towards the port of Marseille