Six Georgian sailors onboard Turkish ship shelled off Libya coast
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The fate of six Georgian sailors reported to be onboard a Turkish cargo ship that was attacked near the Libyan port city of Tobruk on Sunday, is unknown.
The Maritime Transport Agency of Georgia revealed they had only been informed about the incident about 2pm today and were now trying to find out further details.
The Agency noted the six Georgian men aboard the ship were sailors.
A Turkish ship officer was killed and several crew members were injured, Reuters reported.
The incident took place on Sunday night. The Turkish Foreign Ministry today said the ship was first shelled from the shore as it approached the area, then was attacked twice more from the air as it attempted to leave the area.
The MV Tuna 1, sailing under the Cook Islands flag, was transporting dry cargo from Spain to the Libyan port when it came under attack. The Ministry said the attack happened when the ship was in international waters.
A military source told Reuters the vessel had caught fire and was towed in to Tobruk terminal.
A Libyan military spokesman said the vessel came under attack after ignoring a warning not to approach the city of Derna, some 145 km west of Tobruk.
"A ship was shelled about 10 miles from Derna coast. We have warned before about approaching Derna port," Mohamed Hejazi, a spokesman for forces with Libya's internationally recognised government, told Reuters. He confirmed one member of the crew was killed, but said that only one other sustained injuries.
Employing Georgian sailors in the Turkish maritime industry is simplifying thanks to the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Georgian and Turkish sides.
Head of Georgia’s Sea Transport Agency of the Ministry of Economy of Georgia, Mamuka Akhaladze, says that three Georgian sailors, a captain among them, have been detained in Lybia.
Georgia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stated that they are doing their utmost to help three Georgian sailors who were detained in Libya last year for illegally crossing the border and smuggling contraband fuel.
Georgian sailor Soslan Kakabadze, who spent three years in custody in Libya, has returned to Georgia due to the efforts of the Georgian government and the Hungarian Embassy in Libya.
Georgia marked International Saildor Day in the country’s coastal city of Batumi today. Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze stated that being a sailor is one of the bravest professions in the world.He stated that the country’s sea transport needs to be further developed and steps should be taken for producing internationally-qualified sailing staff.