Heavy load carrier VESTVIND crew on Jun 13 spotted two alien persons on board, armed as it came out later, with Kalashnikov machine guns. The ship, en route from Turkey to Poland, at that time was in Ionian sea, some 40 nm off Italian coast. Both terrorists were Syrians, both were recognized by Syrian authorities as “terrorists”. Probably Syrians were spotted earlier, on Jun 10-11, because the ship stopped, and resumed sailing after 12-hour drift. What happened then, and later, up until Jun 22, remains a mystery. The ship went adrift after spotting terrorists, Master reported incident and terrorist threat to Italian authorities, adding that of these two terrorists, one was badly injured. Italy couldn’t do anything including allowing the ship to call Italian port, and advised Master to look for help elsewhere, starting from Flag State, Portugal, and owner’s State Germany. Both States didn’t respond or respond negatively. Hapless ship moved on, on Jun 21 passed Gibraltar and entered Atlantic ocean. On Jun 22, probably, terrorists were dealt with, as the ship was approached (according to tracks) by Portugal law enforcement vessel. As of 1100 UTC Jun 22, VESTVIND was sailing in Gulf of Cadiz, heading NW.
The opinions expressed herein are the author’s and not necessarily those of News2Sea.
#Armed #terrorists #board #German #heavy #lift #ship #Mediterranean