A ship that transported 16 people and Humanitarian aid to Gaza was shaken by explosions on Friday morning off the coast of Malta, set the ship fire and put it at risk of sinking, according to the human rights group that operates the ship.
The ship and its crew were safe after a beet boat helped extinguish the fire after a Mayday call, said the Malta government in a statement.
He did not say what the fire had caused, and added that the authorities were monitoring the ship, which was in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea.
The ship, called consciousness and operated by a group called Freedom Flotilla Coalition, had left Tunisia earlier this week with activists and human rights help.
Before going to Gaza, the ship was scheduled to stop in Malta and pick up about 40 more people, including Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, said Yasemin Care, a group spokeswoman.
It was not clear on Friday morning if the ship was damaged, it would be allowed to dock in Malta. The source of the explosion has not been determined, and it was not known that the ship has been directed in a Bincied way.
The crew members believed they had been beaten by a drone attack, the coalition said. Around 12:20 am local time, armed drones shoot two bombs on the front of the ship when the ship approached Malta, the coalition said in a statement.
That triggered a fire, caused a substantial rape in the helmet and broke the generator on board, leaving the crew without energy. Parts of the group account could not be confirmed independently.
Provident video of the FREEDOM FLOTILLA coalition and verified by the New York Times seems to show a fire on the ship’s deck when an alarm sounds. The security images recorded after the informed time of the fire show that people on the ship evaluate the damage while a man has a fire extender.
The authorities in Malta said they received a Mayday call from a passenger ship of the same name around 12:20 am, informing a fire in the arch. No victims were reported, said the Maltese government.
A nearby container with fire extinction team helped control the fire before 1:30 am, according to Malta’s statement. Less than an hour later, it was confirmed that the crew was safe.
Ann Wright, another group spokesman, said the crew had stayed on board instead of evacuating to monitor the disabled ship.
The group has asked the crew to collect the debris of the explosions so that it could perform a forensic exam, which would help determine if a weapon had been used, Wright said.
Israel has restricted the humanitarian aid of entering the Gaza Strip, except for the most recently since March in an effort to press Hamas to accept a proposal to extend a high fire.
The Israeli army has blocked the attempts of pro-palestinian activists to bring help to Gaza by sea, including force.
In 2010, nine passengers aboard the Mavi Marmara, a flotilla aid that takes Gaza’s help to Gaza, were killed in an Israeli command raid, causing international outrage and a detection in Turkish-Israeli relations.
It was not clear who was the response for explosions in the flotilla near Friday. The Israeli army did not respond immediately to a request for comments.
There were 12 crew members and four civil passengers aboard the ship, according to the Maltese government and the Freedom Flotilla Coalition.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which challenges the blockade of Gaza from Israel by providing humanitarian aid there, asked the international community to condemn the attack.
“Attacking international human rights activists in international waters is a war crime,” Care said.
Jiawei Wang Seoul contributed reports.
