With a personal announcement, shipowner Vangelis Marinakis responded publicly to what the government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos announced, on the occasion of the night phone call received from the shipowner, last Saturday.

"The Greek government has repeatedly said that it will resolutely defend the sovereign rights of the country," government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos said on Tuesday, commenting on the collision between a Turkish patrol boat and Greek coast guard vessel near the Imia islets.