Malta navy seizes tanker taken over by migrant ‘pirates’ in Mediterranean
- The seizing of the El Hiblu 1 tanker is believed to be the first act of piracy by migrants in the Mediterranean
- The ship rescued about 120 migrants and was on its way to Libya, but they forced the crew to change course and head for Europe
A Maltese special operations team seized a tanker on Thursday that had been hijacked by migrants it rescued at sea, and returned control to the captain who was sailing towards a Maltese port with the migrants and crew, armed forces said.
The migrants would be turned over to police for investigation, armed forces said.
Authorities in Malta and Italy said the migrants hijacked the cargo ship on Wednesday after it rescued them in the Mediterranean Sea and forced the crew to put the Libya-bound vessel on a course north towards Europe.
Italy’s interior minister, Matteo Salvini, said the Turkish oil tanker El Hiblu 1 had rescued about 120 people and described what happened as “the first act of piracy on the high seas with migrants” as the alleged hijackers.
“Poor castaways, who hijack a merchant ship that saved them because they want to decide the route of the cruise,” Italian news agency ANSA quoted Salvini saying sarcastically.