Ship carrying aid, 16 people to Gaza explodes

GAZA CITY: A ship carrying 16 people and humanitarian aid to Gaza was rocked by explosions early on Friday off the coast of Malta, setting the vessel on fire and putting it at risk of sinking, according to the human rights group operating the ship, New York Times reported.

The ship and its crew were safe after a tug vessel helped extinguish the blaze following a mayday call, the government of Malta said in a statement. It did not say what had caused the fire, adding that the authorities were monitoring the ship, which was in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea, as per NYT.

The ship, called The Conscience and operated by a group called the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, had left Tunisia earlier this week carrying human rights activists and aid. The group has challenged Israel’s blockade of Gaza by delivering humanitarian aid there.

Before going to Gaza, the ship was scheduled to stop in Malta and pick up about 40 more people, including the Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, said Yasemin Acar, a spokeswoman for the group, NYT reported.

The Israeli military has blocked past attempts by pro-Palestinian activists to bring aid to Gaza by sea, including by force. In 2010, nine passengers aboard the Mavi Marmara, a flotilla carrying aid from Turkey to Gaza, were killed in an Israeli commando raid, sparking international outrage and a deterioration in Turkish-Israeli relations.

Crew members on the ship believed they had been hit by a drone attack, the coalition said. At around 12:20 am (local time), armed drones fired two bombs at the front of the ship when the ship neared Malta, the coalition said in a statement.

That set off a fire, caused a substantial breach in the hull and broke the generator on board, leaving the crew without power. Parts of the group’s account could not be independently confirmed.

Video provided by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition and verified by The New York Times appears to show a fire on the ship’s deck as an alarm rings out. Security footage recorded after the reported time of the fire shows people on the ship assessing the damage as a man holds a fire extinguisher.

The authorities in Malta said they received a mayday call from a passenger vessel of the same name at around 12:20am, reporting a fire on the bow. No casualties were reported, the Maltese government said. It was unclear on Friday morning whether the damaged ship would be allowed to dock in Malta.

A nearby tug vessel with firefighting equipment helped to bring the fire under control by 1:30am, according to Malta’s statement. Less than an hour later, the crew were confirmed to be safe.

Ann Wright, another spokeswoman for the group, said that the crew had stayed aboard instead of evacuating to keep watch over the ship.

The group has asked the crew to pick up the debris from the explosions so that it could undergo forensic examination, which would help determine whether a weapon had been used, Wright said, as per NYT.

It was not clear who was responsible for the explosions on the flotilla near Malta on Friday. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

But Israel has restricted humanitarian aid from entering the Gaza Strip, barring it most recently since March in an effort to pressure Hamas into accepting a proposal to extend a ceasefire.

There were 12 crew members and four civilian passengers on board the ship, according to the Maltese government and the Freedom Flotilla Coalition.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition called on the international community to condemn the attack.

“Attacking international human rights activists in international waters is a war crime,” Acar said. (ANI)