Greek warships off Libya to evacuate Greeks and foreign nationals

In light of the situation in Libya, Greece had decided to evacuate the Greek diplomatic mission and sent a frigate and a detachment of naval commandos to do so, earlier.

The frigate Salamis left the fleet base and has reached Libya's coast. The naval commandos, members of the elite underwater demolitions team, are charged with extricating the Greek mission from Libya. Other countries have also contacted Greece to request that the Greeks carry out their staffs as well.

The dispatch of the Prometheus was deemed necessary to support the frigate Salamis and a cruiseship, possibly the Eleftherios Venizelos, already on their way. The Salamis is expected off the Libyan coast at around 19.30 Athens time.

The number of persons necessitating evacuation, Greeks and foreign nationals has grown to over 400, and the frigate can barely hold 100 in addition to the crew. Most of those needing evacuation are Chinese citizens. Defense minister Dimitris Avramopoulos spoke earlier with the Chinese ambassador about details of the mission.