A vessel belonging to the militia of Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar illegally returned about 250 migrants onboard a fishing boat in distress in international waters near Malta to Benghazi, in an operation at the weekend. The operations were monitored by EURACTIV from the Ocean Viking in the Mediterranean Sea. When the 57 survivors were brought onboard the Ocean Viking, slightly before 2 PM CEST, the NGO boat started to navigate towards the fishing boat in distress. Initially, the Maltese authorities gave the fishing vessel the satellite number of the Ocean Viking, an unusual practice in SAR coordination. However, later in the day, the Italy told the Ocean Viking to change course because Malta wanted to assume coordination of the rescue.

Source: Libya Today July 12, 2023 13:25 UTC