2023-06-09 23:25:51
Yesterday, Friday, Italian Defense Minister Guido Crozito announced the success of the intervention of his country’s forces to liberate a Turkish ship that was detained by irregular migrants.
“The hijackers have been caught,” Cruzeto said on Twitter. “It all ended well.”
Italian media reported that the special forces carried out an air landing on the ship using two helicopters, while the police carried out a sea landing in the Gulf of Naples.
Earlier yesterday, Cruzito announced the intervention of the Special Forces to rescue a Turkish ship that had been hijacked by migrants, while it was sailing to France, off the coast of Naples in the Mediterranean.
Crozito said – during his participation in a forum – that irregular migrants seized this Turkish ship.
The minister did not provide details of how the migrants managed to board the ship or their countries of origin, but said there were 15 migrants in number, and that two or three of them were armed.
Cruzeto added: They detained the 22 crew members of the ship, and then the special forces stationed in Brindisi intervened.
Local media reported that the nationalities of the migrants were unknown, and that the special forces intervened at the request of the ship’s members, who were hidden inside a closed room.
For its part, the Navigation Directorate of the Turkish Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure said, in a statement, that the Galata Seawise cargo ship sailed from the Turkish port of Yalova, heading to the port of Sete, France.
The Navigation Directorate added that it had received a report from the ship’s crew stating that there were 15 infiltrators on board the ship, most likely carrying sharp tools, according to the camera recordings.
And she added – in a statement Friday – that the ship’s crew informed her that they had hidden in the engine and living quarters to protect themselves from intruders.
She indicated that following talks with the ship’s captain and company officials, it was decided to change the ship’s destination from France to the Italian city of Naples, following the approval of the Italian authorities.
She pointed out that the Italian authorities requested the ship’s security plan and other documents, provided that the Italian security units undertake the task of intercepting the ship, which sailed following the accident to the city of Naples (south).
The newspaper “La Repubblica” suggested that the attackers wanted to reach Europe, and boarded the ship surreptitiously in Turkey before the crew members found out regarding them.
A government source said the attackers might be migrants, but it was not immediately known where or when they boarded the ship.
The ship, “Galata Seawise”, flies the flag of Turkey, and it sailed from Topcular on June 7, heading to Sete, in southern France, to arrive there on Saturday, according to Italian media, and it includes a crew of 22 people.
Two Italian Navy helicopters took part in the operation, as well as the coast guard and customs police.
Giorio Moli, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, congratulated the forces that worked to “secure a Turkish ship sailing in Italian territorial waters following a group of armed men diverted it from its course.”
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