A Bourbon anchor-handler has come under fire off Libya during humanitarian operations.
Medical charity MSF said today the attack on the 120-bp-dwt Bourbon Argos (built 2013) took place 24 miles offshore on 17 August while the ship was conducting search and rescue operations.
A group of armed men approached it in an unidentified speedboat.
They fired shots from a distance of 400 to 500 metres and then boarded the vessel.
They moved around, leaving after approximately 50 minutes, without stealing or removing anything.
There were no people rescued on board that day and neither the crew members nor MSF staff were harmed after taking refuge in the designated safe area inside the vessel.
The damage to the ship was minimal, with signs of several bullets shot.
"MSF strongly condemns this violent act towards a medical humanitarian organisation whose sole objective in the Mediterranean is to conduct search and rescue activities in the absence of safe and legal channels for those fleeing armed conflict, disasters and extreme poverty, who lack safe and legal channels to flee," the charity said.
“Although we don’t know the identity of the attackers or their motivation, our initial assessment of the facts shows that they were professional and well-trained,” said Stefano Argenziano, MSF operations coordinator.
“This was a serious and worrying attack, with shooting toward our boat which could have put our staff in acute physical danger.”
