The crew of a Turkish ro-ro vessel sailing in the Mediterranean hid in their cabins and called for outside help when onboard cameras caught potentially dangerous stowaways wandering below deck.
Help arrived a short while later in the form of the Italian special forces, who approached the 34,200-gt Galata Seaways (built 2010) by helicopter. They then boarded the ship and arrested about 15 illegal migrants after a lengthy search.
No-one was injured in the operation, which took place on Friday off Naples.
Both crew and stowaways were hiding in different parts of the Galata Seaways as heavily armed Italian elite troops from the San Marco battalion conducted the search.
Following removal of the stowaways, the DFDS Denizcilik-owned ship resumed its scheduled voyage to the French port of Sete.
DFDS employees alerted Turkish authorities on Friday noon that they spotted about 15 “illegal persons” walking in the interior of the ship carrying “sharp tools”, possibly cutters.
The crew promptly locked themselves in the ship’s living quarters or engine room.
Following contact with French and Italian authorities, DFDS officials and the ship’s master set the Galata Seaways on a course to Naples.
The Italian coast guard attempted to approach the ship but decided it would be more expedient to call special forces for help.
The San Marco battalion made use of search dogs to detect the stowaways, whose nationality has not been disclosed.
“I would like to thank all our officials for their efforts and convey my best wishes to our sailors,” tweeted Abdulkadir Uraloglu, Turkey's minister of transport and infrastructure.
DFDS started a service between Yalova and Sete in October 2019.
