Malta force recaptures tanker hijacked at sea by ‘pirate’ migrants

A Maltese special operations team has boarded a tanker that had been hijacked by migrants rescued at sea and recaptured control of it before escorting it to a Maltese port.

Italy’s hardline interior minister slammed the migrants as pirates, but aid groups rejected that label, saying the European Union’s policy of sending migrants back to lawless Libya was to blame.

Armed military personnel stood guard on the ship’s deck. A dozen or so migrants were also visible as the Turkish oil tanker El Hiblu 1 docked yesterday at Boiler Wharf in the port of Senglea in Valletta.

Five suspected ringleaders were led off in handcuffs.

In all, the Turkish tanker rescued 77 men, 19 women and 12 minors, including toddlers, Malta officials said. One pregnant woman and one child were being treated at a hospital as a precaution.

Authorities in Italy and Malta said the group had hijacked the vessel after it rescued them in the Mediterranean Sea off Libya and forced the crew to put the Libya-bound vessel on a course north toward Europe.

Maltese armed forces established communications with the captain while the ship was still 30 nautical miles offshore. The captain said he was not in control of the vessel “and that he and his crew were being forced and threatened by a number of migrants to proceed to Malta”, the armed forces said.

No details were given of what force or threats were used. There was no immediate word on the condition of El Hiblu 1’s crew.

A military official said the migrants did not have weapons, but the captain and crew wereoutnumberedandforced to surrender.

Italian interior minister Matteo Salvini described the takeover as “the first act of piracy on the high seas with migrants” by the alleged hijackers.

Mr Salvini, who insisted the ship would not be allowed to dock in Italy, praised Malta’s interception.

“Immigration is managed by criminals and should be blocked by any legal means necessary,” Mr Salvini said.

Humanitarian organisations rejected Mr Salvini’s characterisation of piracy, saying migrants had been repeatedly mistreated, raped and tortured in Libya. They have long protested EU protocols to return migrants rescued offshore to the lawless northern African nation.

Theaidgroupseawatchsaid the migrants’ actions “were in self defence against the deadly consequences forced upon them by Europe’s inhumane border policy”.

0 A child migrants is carried from the Turkish oil tanker El Hiblu 1