Ocean Viking arrives at Bari with 244 migrants aboard

(ANSA) - ROME, DEC 30 - The Ocean Viking rescue ship on Saturday arrived at Bari with 244 migrants aboard.
    The boat chartered by Italo-Francio-German-Swiss migrant rescue charity SOS Medterranée had picked up the migrants, including 18 unaccompanied minors, tow disabled and two pregnant women, in the Libyan SAR (Search And Rescue) zone in recent days.
    Their health condition was said to be good.
    Some of the migrants will be distributed among Puglian migrant centres while others will go to Calabria.
    The migrants were said to have come from Eritrea, Sudan, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Syria.
    Writing on X, SOS Mediterranée said: "#OceanViking performed three rescues today.
    "During the night, @SOSMedIntl first rescued 122 people, incl. 8 unaccompanied minors, from an overcrowded wooden boat in the Libyan SRR, under instructions of a Libyan patrol vessel. "Some survivors suffer from chronic diseases.
    "Around midday, an overcrowded double deck wooden boat was spotted in the intl. waters off Libya from the bridge lookout.
    "Under Italian coordination, the #OceanViking team rescued 106 people, including 8 women, 2 being pregnant & 4 children." "While @SOSMedIntl fast rescue boats were still on the water, #Colibri2 spotted an unseaworthy fiberglass boat, 14NM away. "16 survivors were rescued, under Italian coordination.
    "There are 244 survivors on #OceanViking. The Italian authorities assigned Bari as a Place of Safety." Meanwhile in the northeastern Italian port of Ravenna, preparations were underway to receive some 336 migrants aboard the Doctors Without Borders' ship Geo Barents.
    They are expected to reach Ravenna at around three in the afternoon on Tuesday.
    They will be moved on Red Cross vans to the local palazzetto dello sport where six medical check-up workshops have already been set up. (ANSA).