SEA rescue organisations demanded at the weekend that they be allowed to disembark refugees picked up in the Mediterranean at nearby ports.

Just days after more than 60 people died on a raft in the central Mediterranean, survivors of other incidents last week remain in limbo, far from an approved port of safety.

The teams on board Ocean Viking — a vessel chartered by SOS Mediterranee, in partnership with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) — operated four separate missions within a 48-hour period this week, rescuing 361 men, women and children in danger at sea.