Fishing boat "Aliseo" (Ansa)

  • Shooting at Italian fishing boat, captain: "I live by a miracle"

  • Libya, Coast Guard fires warning shots at Italian fishing boats: commander injured

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08 May 2021 The fishing boat "Aliseo" has just entered the port of Mazara del Vallo, escorted by a patrol boat of the Coast Guard, with seven crewmen including the commander Giuseppe Giacalone, who was slightly injured by gunshots fired by a Libyan military patrol boat. Ansa writes it. The assault took place two days ago north of the coast of Tripoli, in international waters even if within the Libyan fisheries protection zone. The timely intervention of the Italian Navy, which came to the rescue of the fishing boat with the Libeccio frigate and a helicopter, convinced the Libyan military to release the boat.



To welcome the crew of the fishing boat on the quay, in addition to the mayor Salvatore Quinci and the bishop of Mazara del Vallo Domenico Mogavero, who even boarded the Coast Guard patrol boat to greet the seafarers even before their arrival in port, the family members of the seven crewmen. Among them also the wife of the captain Giuseppe Giacalone, Nuccia, and his son Alessandro, who is also the owner of the boat. The captain of the trade wind has a bandage on his head and a shirt stained with blood due to the wounds caused by the splinters of the cabin window, shattered by machine gun shots fired by the Libyan military.   



Also in port are the Carabinieri of the Scientific of Trapani who will go on board for a series of surveys after the Public Prosecutor's Office of Rome, competent for crimes committed abroad, has opened a file on the assault by the Libyan patrol boat delegating the investigations to the Ros. Among the authorities there is also the councilor for fishing Toni Scilla, representing the regional government. 



"This story shows that there is a piece of the Libyan Guard that does not respond to the government. We ask the Italian government to do a great deal of diplomacy so that our navy in the Mediterranean has the right security". This was stated by the mayor of Mazara del Vallo Salvatore Quinci, who welcomed the return of the fishing boat in port.   



The mayor will go to Rome next Tuesday to meet the Minister of Defense Lorenzo Guerini and the Minister of the Interior Luciana Lamorgese for an examination of the situation of the Mazara seafaring which calls for greater protection in the fishing activity off the North African coast by our authority.