SOS MEDITERRANEE “determined to bring every responsible party to justice” over armed attack on Ocean Viking

Marseille / Brussels, 5 September 2025 – SOS MEDITERRANEE today announced that it has filed a criminal proceeding before Italian prosecutors – who have already opened an investigation – following the armed attack against the rescue ship Ocean Viking by the Libyan Coast Guard on 24 August. This marks the first step in a series of legal actions aimed at holding both the perpetrators and those who enabled the assault accountable. The complaint requests prosecution for attempted multiple homicide, attempted shipwreck, damage to a vessel, as well as any other offense the Judicial Authority may deem applicable. After an attempted homicide, pursuing penal action is only a first step towards holding perpetrators accountable. Legal action will also be pursued at international level to address the responsibility of the chain of command within the Libyan Coast Guard, and of institutions and States that continue to finance, equip, and train it. 

New evidence confirms deliberate assault despite ongoing communication with authorities
Download the media brief here.

At today’s media briefing, SOS MEDITERRANEE also presented new audiovisual evidence confirming that the Ocean Viking came under a deliberate, targeted, and unprecedented armed attack that placed survivors, humanitarian workers and seafarers in immediate mortal danger despite the vessel’s strict compliance with international maritime law and ongoing coordination with the Italian authorities.  “This attack must serve as a wake-up call. Humanitarian workers and survivors cannot be left unprotected at sea while European states continue to outsource border control to a Libyan authority that has repeatedly demonstrated its contempt for international law,” says Bianca Benvenuti, Head of International Advocacy and Public Positioning at SOS MEDITERRANEE. SOS MEDITERRANEE calls for: 

• An independent, transparent investigation into the attack and accountability for both the perpetrators and those enabling them. 

• The suspension of all EU and Italian support – financial, material, and operational – to the Libyan Coast Guard. 

• The abolition of the 2017 Italy–Libya Memorandum of Understanding and termination of the SIBMMIL program. 

• Suspend and review the recognition of the Libyan Search and Rescue Region by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) through an audit under the Member State Audit Scheme 
• Protection for humanitarian search and rescue NGOs, including an end to criminalization and administrative obstruction.