Spain’s new prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, has said the Aquarius may dock in Valencia. With 629 people on board, it has been waiting for a secure place to dock amid a diplomatic standoff between Italy and Malta.
A French NGO’s rescue ship, the Aquarius, was given the go-ahead to dock in Spain’s eastern port of Valencia on Monday.
“It is our obligation to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe and offer a safe port for these people,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s office said in a statement, adding it wanted to comply with its international responsibilities on humanitarian crises. Sanchez, a socialist, issued the instructions after Italy and Malta refused to let it dock.
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The French organization SOS Mediterranee said the ship carrying 629 migrants, including 123 unaccompanied minors and seven pregnant women, was picked up off the coast of Libya on Saturday. Among those on board were 400 migrants rescued by the Italian navy and merchant vessels before being transferred to the Aquarius.
Italy and Malta, who had both refused to allow the rescue ship to dock in their ports, thanks the Spanish government for offering to receive the ship. However, it remains uncertain whether the Aquarius would feasibly be able to make the voyage, given that it currently sits some 1,400 kilometers (over 750 nautical miles) away from Valencia.
“It means that we need at least two more days of sailing, which is not possible today with 629 people on board,” SOS Mediterranee Maritime Operations Manager Antoine Laurent said.
Logistics also counted against setting a course for Spain, Laurent added. “We would need a resupply at sea which is not so easy to organize so we urge Italy to find a solution very soon close to our position,” he said.
International aid group Doctors Without Borders, which has staff aboard the Aquarius, warned that food and water on the ship would run out by Monday night.
Further, some of the passengers were suffering from water in their lungs, as well as from chemical burns caused by gasoline mixing with seawater. Seven female refugees onboard are pregnant.
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