SEARCH, SAVE & PROTECT

After its last high-profile rotation, the Ocean Viking, the rescue boat of the NGO SOS Méditerranée, has set sail again. On board, a new team still motivated and trained to assist boats in distress with children, women and men fleeing Libya in search of a better life. On land, an Italian government, the far-right government of Giorgia Meloni Meloni. A government that is working hard to make the work of NGOs a little more difficult with the vote of a new decree attempting to criminalize the work of humanitarian boats a little more.

While until now, the press has been reporting on the tug of war between the Italian government and NGO boats operating in the Mediterranean, the new Italian government of Meloni has just found a method that goes against the previous one. Instead of leaving rescue boats at sea for several days or weeks, the new practice, worthy of a Machiavellian, is simple. The Italian government now assigns a safe port after each rescue, in cities located mainly in northern Italy. A method that economically suffocates the NGOs, forcing them to make long journeys at sea, far from the search area. A new method that acts as a double punishment inflicted on the survivors who have just escaped the worst by braving the Mediterranean. The method is clear: to waste time and money when the attempts to cross the sea do not stop...

The plane of the association "Pilotes Volontaires" is criss-crossing the area where the Viking Ocean, the boat of the NGO SOS Méditerranée, is operating. They cooperate with each other in order to find possible boats in distress.

The crew of the RHIB easy two, one of the inflatable lifeboats, practices approach maneuvers in open water.

Lucia (middle) takes the role of an injured person during a basic life support exercise. All crews on the Viking Ocean attend these training sessions.

Luisa, head of SOS Méditerranée operations at sea, at her post on the upper deck. She is the relay with the authorities on land and at sea, with the other NGO boats at sea, with Pilotes Volontaires. She coordinates the search operations.

Daytime rescue exercise aboard the RHIBS. Teams practice approaches and transferring people from one boat to another. Tanguy, in charge of the search and rescue (SAR) teams, reaches out to grab Cate (the boat’s doctor) and transfer her to the boat.

At 3:24 a.m., as the search and rescue teams are about to set sail for a rescue operation, the medical team is also standing on deck ready to intervene as soon as the first survivors arrive.

A dinghy overloaded with 113 people was found during the night by the SOS Méditerranée teams.

Easy One and Easy 2, the two Rhibs (lifeboats) of SOS Méditerranée intervened to help a small boat in distress with 39 people on board.

About 15 people were loaded onto one of the lifeboats after an operation in the middle of the night.

A woman is pulled onto the mother ship by two members of SOS Méditerranée. She is one of the 37 people rescued

A carpet with "welcome on board" written on it is installed on the boarding deck of the mother ship, the Ocean Viking. Next to it, life jackets are placed on the floor after a rescue.

The mother and two aunts of a two-week-old baby have just been rescued at sea.

Survivors line up for the food distribution set up next to the women's room. Survivors are given a 24-hour bag of food as well as rice, tea and hot chocolate. A kit with clean clothes and hygiene products is also distributed.

Messages of thanks written and drawn by the survivors are hung on one of the walls of the boat's deck. In front of the wall, W and M from Cameroon are drawing on sheets of paper provided by the SOS Méditerranée teams.

H, smiling after collecting his 24-hour ration and a bowl of rice for the evening meal.

Tanguy, Search and Rescue (SAR) team leader, explains an approach maneuver during a rescue debriefing.

The SOS Méditerranée team provides several scissors and clippers so that the survivors can cut their hair as they wish.

Moment of joy on the deck with an improvised party after mini speakers had been distributed to the survivors.

A sign posted on a container near the tea distribution site. It says, «You are safe» in several languages.

Photograph of the computer screen displaying the weather for the coming days. A storm with 6 meter waves is expected on the return journey from the Viking Ocean to the port of Ancona in northern Italy. The Italian government is designating «safe harbors» in northern Italy for humanitarian ships, forcing survivors to endure extreme weather conditions. This means additional costs for NGOs and longer time away from the search areas.

Survivors watch as they protect themselves from the cold with the blankets that have been distributed to them.

Two women hug each other. They have just given news to their families. As they approach the Italian coast, many telephones manage to reach Italy and everyone can give news and reassure their relatives.

Moment of joy as they approach the port of Ancona and the Italian coast, synonymous with Europe. Of the 37 people rescued, the time spent in Libya varied from a few days to 2 years.

Arrived in Ravenna escorted by the guardia costiera and the guarda finanza. behind the boat supporters of the Ocean Viking gathered to welcome the boat. On the banner held by the pro-migrants, one can read «saving lives is not a crime».

Italian Ministry of Health teams are testing survivors for Covid 19 prior to landing.

I, holds in his hands heaters distributed by the Italian Red Cross at the arrival in Ancona.

Cate, the mission's doctor, is hugged by a survivor as the Viking Ocean makes landfall in the port of Ancona in northern Italy.

Disembarking of the 109 survivors in the port of Ravenna.

Messages sur le groupe what’apps des membres du bateau pour indiquer que tous les rescapés ont été debarqués