Italian Defense Minister, Guido Crosetto, announced on Friday that his country’s forces have successfully liberated a Turkish ship that was hijacked by migrants.
Crosetto tweeted, “The captors of the ship have been apprehended, everything ended well.” He added, “I congratulate the members of the San Marco unit and the police for their great cooperation in accomplishing the mission.”
Italian media reported that special forces conducted an airborne operation on the ship using helicopters, while police forces executed a maritime operation in the Gulf of Naples.
Earlier on Friday, Crosetto announced the intervention of Italian special forces to rescue a Turkish ship that was hijacked by migrants during its voyage to France, off the coast of Naples in the Mediterranean Sea.
The Turkish Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure’s Directorate of Maritime Affairs had received a report from the ship’s crew stating that there were 15 stowaways on board, carrying sharp objects, according to camera recordings.
The Turkish Ministry of Transport stated that the cargo ship “Galata Seaways” had set sail from the port of Yalova in Turkey, bound for the port of Sete in France. The crew noticed the presence of other individuals on board late on Friday, as captured by the cameras, showing them roaming around the ship with sharp objects.
In a statement, the Directorate of Maritime Affairs mentioned that after discussions with the ship’s captain and company officials, the ship’s destination was changed from France to the Italian city of Naples, with the approval of the Italian authorities.
