Main-stream news reports in Greece(Friday 12-Saturday 13th) say Greek commandos boarded the Gaza-bound ship on Friday in the country's main harbour of Pireaus during a dispute between the ship's captain and the aid group over money.
The 10 travellers with the Road to Hope organization said they were being treated like terrorist suspects by the Greek commandos.
The organization said the Maltese-flagged ship, Strofades IV, with 16 crew members was originally intended to sail from Libya to El Raid in Egypt with the aid then to be transported via land route to Gaza. After a two-week wait at the Libyan/Egyptian border, the group had raised the money to pay for this alternative journey.
But following an argument between the ship's Greek captain and an Egyptian broker, the aid group's cargo and nearly 70 other volunteers were left behind in Libya and the ship sailed to Pireaus instead. According to an earlier statement from Road to Hope, the captain was reported to be saying he wanted to proceed to Greek islands and drop off the convoyers and Libyans, so that the Greek people could deal with them as illegal immigrants. The ship contains 10 aid workers - seven Britons, two Irish and an Algerian - on board as well as several Libyan police officers, plus a senior port official. The police officers had gone on board at the port to help settle the dispute, when the ship set off from the Libyan port of Darnah.
The captain had set off while the Strofades IV was still moored, snapping the ropes holding his boat by force and heading for open waters.
"The scene was crazy," said Saeb Shaath, one of the convoyers who was at the port helping the charity to dispatch the aid consignment and who witnessed the incident, speaking to Reuters.
"He [the captain] broke anchor without permission to leave. He broke the ropes tying the ship ... and nearly capsized the ship when when it hit the wall. There were a lot of people on that ship."
Libyan authorities pursued the ship with Zodiac speedboats and aircraft, but the captain refused to stop. "He won't listen," said Shaath. Libyan authorities had secured the boat while waiting to resolve the dispute between the captain and his passengers. The volunteers understood the captain feared the agent would not pay him the $90,000 fee for the voyage to Gaza. After leaving harbour, he apparently disembarked 22.50 GMT on Wednesday 10th, through a side door of the ship, onto a speed boat, which made for another cargo vessel in Darnah harbour – “Odin Finder”.
There followed this short statement from one of those on board:
"reports of 4 Libyan navy vessels & two fighter jets surrounding ship, attempting to bring the vessel back to harbour safely.
Attempts to ensure 10 kidnapped convoyers & 3 libyans safely transferred to Libyan ships, to return to Darnah. No force being used – only verbal reasoning applied to Strofades IV captain"
After this, the journey to Greece resumed.
Britain's foreign ministry said it was aware of the incident. It released a statement:
"Our Embassy in Athens has spoken to the shipping company and is also in close contact with the Greek authorities. Our priority remains that there be a safe resolution to this incident.”
The ship's owners are the Pireaus-based Ionion Bridge Shipping Management.
Ministry officials said all those on board the vessel were in good health; although it is known that for the earlier part of the journey they were allowed only washing-water to drink and no food.
Update, 14 November 19.45 GMT:
Ebrahim reports back: The convoy has just driven away from the port of Darnah where the debacle with the ship took place and apparently caused some bad feeling with the local police.
He says they are all safe and well, and had their passports returned.
The two local Bristol people, Keith and Shahid, are fine.
Internet connections have been limited and this is the reason communications have been so fragmentary.
They are driving to Tobruk where they will have some freedom and can relax.
There are no ships over the next few days as it is the festival of Eid.
They have their money back and have news of a ship arriving next Thursday which would leave on Saturday.
Ebrahim Mussaji, from Gloucestershire, is part of the Bristol Contingent of Road2Hope.
21st November: The abducted convoyers have returned to the UK but some of them were hoping to fly back to rejoin the convoy for the departure of ship number two, planned for the night of Sunday 21st; while the Captain of
Strofades IV
is, apparently, under arrest.
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