Turkish civilian vessel collides with Greek gunboat off Mytilene
- Written by E.Tsiliopoulos
The alarm went off at 4 in the morning in the Aegean, when a Turkish merchant ship collided with an Hellenic Navy gunboat, in Greek territorial waters off Mytilene!
According to information from Militaire.gr, a Turkish merchant ship approached the gunboat Armatolos in a direction from left to right, while the gunboat was conducting a patrol east of Mytilene. With a maneuver it slid up against the gunboat and scraped it at the ship's midst. Immediately it opened speed an quickly sailed into Turkish waters!
None of the crew suffered any injuries and the boat has no significant damage as it appears. The episode is being considered as suspicious and serious.
According to the AMNA news agency, National Defense Minister Panos Kammenos, who was co-ordinating the actions from the very first moment, immediately informed Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias and the main opposition party.
The Greek side has made all the necessary provisions for criminal and civil sanctions, based on the International Maritime Law.
The announcement of Hellenic Navy General Staff (HNGS)
Just before 8 am, the Ministry of Defense issued a statement on the new episode in the Aegean:
"The Navy General Staff announces that the first morning hours of Friday, May 4, 2018, a merchant ship KARMATE, flying the flag of Turkey, approached and ollided with the gunboat Armatolos southeast of Mytilene, within the National Territorial Waters, violating the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREG), as the merchant ship was arriving.
There were no injuries or serious damage. There was no environmental contamination.
After the event, the merchant ship accelerated and moved away, moving to the nearest shores of Turkey, without responding to the radio calls from the gunboat Armatolos.
The event has been handled by the competent Port Authorities.
The incident took place during a planned patrol of the gunboat Armatolos as part of the allied AEGEAN ACTIVITY operation to tackle migratory flows in the Aegean Sea. The relevant NATO authorities have been informed.
The gunboat Armatolos is continuing its mission.
Commander Spyridon Polyatos
HNGS press spokesman.
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