France: Migrant rescue NGO SOS Mediterranee to launch new ship

W/S Le Petit Bain barge hosting the press conference
M/S Presser
M/S Journalists
W/S Presser
SOT, Frederic Penard, SOS Mediterranee Director of Operations (French): "Our mission has always been to recall the duty of captains to assist persons in danger, and to recall the duty of states to provide assistance to captains in order to enable landings. This is the only interest and it is the only message we carry: It is an absolute duty to bring the survivors to safety. We cannot know, aboard, whether they are migrants, refugees or asylum seekers; that does not come into consideration. They are human beings who are in danger and who we shelter and must wear in a safe harbour."
W/S Presser
M/S Journalists outside the press conference
SOT, Sophie Beau, SOS Mediterranee Executive Director and Co-Founder (French): "We are the first to denounce human trafficking and there is a whole campaign of criminalisation to discredit our actions. We condemn all these practices, this misinformation, these amalgamations. We are the first to condemn the criminal action of smugglers, human traffickers, and we, ourselves, strictly respect, firmly, maritime law and international humanitarian law. All our actions are legal, that's the purpose of our action: legality."
W/S Journalists outside the press conference
C/U SOS Mediterranee T-shirt
SCRIPT
Non-governmental organisation SOS Mediterranee announced in Paris on Monday, that it will launch a new migrant rescue ship.
Their new ship, the Ocean Viking, will replace the Aquarius, which SOS Mediterranee stopped operating in 2018 after multiple accusations of smuggling and criminal activity.
"We are the first to denounce human trafficking and there is a whole campaign of criminalisation to discredit our actions," said Sophie Beau, the NGO's co-founder and executive director. "All our actions are legal, that's the purpose of our action: legality."
The Ocean Viking, registered as a cargo ship in Norway, will conduct a sea rescue campaign off the coast of Libya in partnership with Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF).
"Our mission has always been to recall the duty of captains to assist persons in danger, and to recall the duty of states to provide assistance to captains," said SOS Mediterranee Director of Operations Frederic Penard. "We cannot know, aboard, whether they are migrants, refugees or asylum seekers; that does not come into consideration. They are human beings who are in danger and who we shelter and must wear in a safe harbour."
SOS Mediterranee is launching this new campaign and asking for donations from citizens across Europe as the European Union's Operation Sophia, aimed at neutralising established smuggling routes, is set to end in September.