Alert af ter ship full of migrants is ‘taken over by armed men’
A MILITARY operation was l aunched yesterday af t er reports a cargo ship carrying hundreds of migrants had been seized by armed men near the island of Corfu.
A distress call to Greek emergency services prompted the navy to send a warship and helicopter to the scene.
Meanwhile resources were diverted away from the ongoing search of the wreck of the Norman Atlantic, the ferry which caught fire at the weekend killing at least 12.
The distress call came yesterday morning after the Blue Sky M, carrying a reported 600 migrants, diverted sharply off its course from Moldova to Croatia and headed towards Italy.
Armed Greek Coastguard officers were scrambled to the scene as the Moldovan-registered vessel made its way through territorial waters. They later passed responsibility to the
‘We are without food and water’
Italians who landed three of their coastguard officers from a helicopter to assess the situation.
Greek state television said the alarm had been raised because armed men were on board, but there was no confirmation from the defence or shipping ministries.
The were also reports a passenger had phoned the Greek 112 emergency line, complaining ‘ we are without water, food and blankets’.
However, the ship was allowed to continue into international waters after the captain assured officials the situation was under control.
‘He said there was no problem and he would continue on course towards Italy,’ said an unnamed shipping ministry official.
According to figures from the United Nations refugee agency, 160,000 migrants arrived by sea i n Italy and another 40,000 in Greece between January and the end of November.
Fleeing conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa and often travelling in small, unsafe boats, thousands more have died attempting the journey.
The influx has stirred tensions among Greeks and Italians, whose living standards have worsened as their governments seek to cut spending and raise taxes amid the eurozone debt crisis. The Greek coastguard dealt with a similar alert to yesterday’s incident just over a month ago, when they received a call that armed traffickers had taken control of a ship full of illegal immigrants.
But it turned out to be a false alarm as there were no guns on board, and also fewer migrants than initially claimed.
On Sunday, the Norman Atlantic passenger ferry caught fire in the Adriatic near yesterday’s incident.
Authorities rescued more than 400 people, and are still searching for potential missing passengers.