“The ship is very large and it is not difficult to hide, when they heard the helicopter” some kidnappers “escaped, then probably trying to escape by sea at night. However, the ship is surrounded and we will see what happens in the next few hours, we will see who they are kidnappers on the ship and we will understand what they wanted to do”. So the defense minister Guido Crosetto spoke by telephone to ‘Stasera Italia’ on Retequattro, regarding the attempted seizure of a Turkish ship off the coast of Naples. Speaking of the situation at the moment, Crosetto added: “For now, no problems, the ship has been recovered and the crew is safe, let’s hope nothing happens.” Crosetto explained that the military “had to take control of the ship and they did it in a very short time, now it’s up to others to intervene”. The minister then concluded: “the armed forces are also useful in situations like these”.
The kidnapping attempt
The attempted seizure by armed assailants in the bridge of a turkish cargo ship and the SOS launched by Turkish sailors. And shortly after the men of the San Marco Marine Brigade who descend from helicopters to neutralize the group of irregular migrants who had attempted to hijack the vessel. The special operation in the Tyrrhenian Sea, off the coast of Naples, managed to avert the attack of about fifteen migrants, probably coming from the Middle Eastern route, who became pirates in a few seconds.
An operation which, although the cargo was then escorted to the port of Naples where a police force was deployed, continued with the reclamation of the ship. The merchant ship was carrying trucks and had left from the port of Topcular in Turkey on 7 June bound for France to the port of Seté where it was to land on 10 June but the journey was interrupted near the island of Ischia: after the discovery of the Irregular migrants, perhaps hidden in one of the trucks on board, tried to take possession of the merchant vessel Galata Seaways, putting the twenty-two crew members in check. The sailors managed to launch the SOS to the French Coast Guard who alerted the Italian one, which always remained in contact with the ship’s command: then the blitz of the Navy, stationed in Brindisi. Two helicopters intervened: the men of the San Marco Brigade, the Marine Infantry, descended on the cargo while those of the Comsubin remained on the helicopter to monitor the situation.
Migrants try to hijack a Turkish ship off the coast of Naples, stranded
Triggered the intervention, with the Minister of Defence Guido Crosetto constantly informed, the Italian soldiers immediately blocked part of the attacking group who still had weapons in hand: four or five migrants, with knives, had attempted to take possession of the command bridge, barricading themselves inside and also attempting to kidnap the Turkish sailors. The other attackers, on the other hand, fled hiding among the vehicles.
The update on operations was provided by Crosetto himself, who was participating in the Masseria Forum in Manduria: “We hope it will end as soon as possible without consequences for anyone,” he said. With the ship safe and the violent neutralized, the cargo was taken to the port of Naples, to continue the reclamation of the vessel. To guarantee the safety of the operation, escorting the boat, there was the ship Gregoretti of the harbor master’s office, a helicopter and a plane of the Coast Guard as well as a patrol vessel of the Guardia d’ Finanza.
Once at anchor in Naples, where the cargo will remain, the men of the Naples Flying Squad, the financiers of Gico and Roan, the Port Authority boarded the Galata Seaways to continue the search for other assailants and to try to rebuild the ‘happened. On the attempted hijacking of the Turkish cargo, the Naples prosecutor’s office has ordered investigations coordinated by prosecutor Enrica Parascandalo: the preliminary investigation will also aim to ascertain the exact sea area in which the attempted seizure and hijacking took place, also to determine the jurisdiction territory of the investigators.
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