VALLETTA, Malta (AP) A Maltese special operations team boarded a tanker today that had been hijacked by migrants rescued at sea and recaptured control of it before escorting it to a Maltese port. Italys hard-line interior minister slammed the migrants as pirates but aid groups rejected that label, saying the European Unions policy of sending migrants back to lawless Libya was to blame.
Armed military personnel stood guard on the ships deck, and a dozen or so migrants were also visible, as the Turkish oil tanker El Hiblu 1 docked today at Boiler Wharf in the city of Senglea. Five suspected ringleaders were led off in handcuffs.
In all, the Turkish tanker rescued 77 men, 19 women and 12 minors, including toddlers, Malta officials said. One pregnant woman and one child were being treated at a hospital as a precaution.
Authorities in Italy and Malta on Wednesday said the group had hijacked the vessel after it rescued them in the Mediterranean Sea off Libya, and forced the crew to put the Libya-bound vessel on a course north toward Europe.
Maltese armed forces established communications with the captain while the ship was still 30 nautical miles offshore. The captain said he was not in control of the vessel and that he and his crew were being forced and threatened by a number of migrants to proceed to Malta, the armed forces said.
No details were given of what force or threats were used, and there was no immediate word on the condition of El Hiblu 1s crew.
A military official not authorized to speak to the media said that the migrants did not have weapons, but that the captain and crew were outnumbered and forced to surrender.
Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini on Wednesday described the takeover as the first act of piracy on the high seas with migrants as the alleged hijackers.
Salvini, who insisted the ship would not be allowed to dock in Italy, today praised the Maltas interception.
Immigration is managed by criminals and should be blocked by any legal means necessary, Salvini was quoted as saying by the Italian news agency ANSA.
Humanitarian organizations rejected Salvinis characterization of piracy, saying that migrants have been repeatedly mistreated, raped and tortured in Libya. They have long protested EU protocols to return migrants rescued offshore to the lawless northern African nation.
The aid group Sea Watch said the migrants actions were in self-defense against the deadly consequences forced upon them by Europes inhumane border policy.
The ship had been heading toward Italys southernmost island of Lampedusa and the island nation of Malta when Maltese forces intercepted it. The special team that restored control to the captain was backed by a patrol vessel, two fast interceptor craft and a helicopter.
Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said on Twitter that the nations armed forces had conducted a sensitive operation on high seas.
We do not shirk responsibility despite our size, he said, pledging to follow international rules.
Still, both Italy and Malta have refused to open their ports to humanitarian ships that rescue migrants at sea, which has created numerous standoffs as European governments haggle over who will take them in.
