The Italian authorities have assigned a port to the Ocean Viking, the Sos Mediterranee ship that last night rescued 113 migrants, including three newborns, who were on a rubber dinghy adrift in the Mediterranean: it will go to Ravenna. Italy, writes the same NGO on Twitter, “has assigned a very distant port, inviting the ship to go to La Spezia” but “a few hours later has reassigned an even more distant port. Ravenna, 900 nautical miles away, about 4 days of sailing”. The NGO says they are “relieved” for the rescued migrants but at the same time “worried” for any other boats in difficulty: “because at the moment – underlines Sos Med – we are the only NGO ship operating at sea”.
The arrival should be on December 31st, but “we are waiting for certain data” explains the mayor of Ravenna Michele De Pascale. “My first thought went to these people who spent Christmas not in the serenity of many of our homes but in the drama of an inhuman journey – he comments – We have not been given any information on the reason for the choice of the port of Ravenna, not exactly the closest to Libya, but I say clearly that immediately the Municipality of Ravenna and the other institutions involved, above all Ausl Romagna, gave full collaboration to the Prefecture to manage a humane, safe and professional welcome. We are not used to landings of this type and everyone’s attention must be maximum”. Finally, he adds: “A side note, the municipal administration of Ravenna and its mayor do not change their opinion on hospitality and solidarity on the basis of right-wing or left-wing governments that alternate at the helm of the country.