Johanna de Tessières
On February 6th, the team onboard OceanViking witnessed a series of erratic, aggressive and unlawful manoeuvres and operations of the Libyan Coast Guard in international waters in the Mediterranean. After this sequence, the Ocean Viking was detained on the basis of what the same Libyan Coast Guard reported to the Italian authorities about that day.
Despite repeatedly putting people’s lives in danger at sea, the Libyan Coastguard are the ones listened to, supported and informed by European institutions, as a reported recently published by Der Spiegel once again proves: Since 2021, the European Border and Coastguard Agency Frontex has shared coordinates of thousands of boats in distress of people trying to flee Libya with the Libyan Coast Guard. Just a few days ago, the Italian Supreme Court ruled that Libya is not a place of safety for survivors rescued from distress at sea.
It was the third time in three months that the Ocean Viking was detained and fined for rescuing lives at sea while the EU continues to fund Libyan actors who routinely break maritime law at sea.
Credits: Tess Barthes / SOS MEDITERRANEE
