A Turkish cargo vessel that Italian particular forces boarded after the crew detected a gaggle of unidentified folks aboard has left waters off the southern metropolis of Naples, web site MarineTraffic confirmed, as police continued to research the incident.
Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto mentioned on Friday that the particular forces operation was launched because of the presence of about 15 migrants on board the vessel.
A Turkish transport ministry assertion mentioned the Galata Seaways roll-on-roll-off vessel was crusing from the Turkish port of Yalova to Sete in France. The crew realised different folks had been aboard the ship late on Friday morning, it mentioned.
The crew locked themselves within the engine room and alerted maritime authorities in Turkey, who in flip contacted Italy and France. The captain advised Italian police he issued the alarm after he noticed two of the folks carrying knives, native media reported.
Ansa information company mentioned the migrants – who had been Syrians, Iraqis and Iranians – included a pregnant lady, and three of them had been charged over the weapons. It mentioned two ladies had been taken to hospital, whereas the remaining had been transferred to a migrant reception centre.
“Everything ended well,” Crosetto wrote on Twitter on Saturday, as he congratulated the particular forces and police for the operation.
Crosetto mentioned on Friday that the migrants had tried to take management of the boat, however native media mentioned none of them had to this point been charged with that as investigations proceed.
(Reuters – Reporting by Angelo Amante, Federica Urso and Yesim Dikmen; Editing by Nick Macfie, Hugh Lawson and Helen Popper)