Ship fired warning shots during Mediterranean rescue
The Swedish Coast Guard ship Poseidon, which is aiding in the EU Triton effort to rescue migrants in the Mediterranean Sea, fired warning shots Monday evening as a quickly approaching small boat failed to identify itself quick enough, news site Migrant Report wrote Wednesday.
The boat was an Italian vessel, a fast rubber boat, which identified itself after the warning and there was no further incident. It happened during a rescue mission when the Poseidon had just taken around 350 migrants on board, collected from several smaller boats.
Frontex spokesperson Ewa Moncure told Migrant Report that the shots fired were just warnings and no one was ever in danger. She also said that the extra precautions are being taken because of earlier incidents when smugglers had approached rescue ships in an attempt to reclaim empty boats for reuse. Two such incidents this year had turned violent.
The Swedish Coast Guard published a response on their website early Wednesday morning:
"Because the incident happened only around 55 nautical miles from the Libyan coast, where the threat is the highest, the KBV 001 followed its instructions and sent a warning shot. After that the boat changed course and an Italian flag could be seen. Then the boat was identified as a part of the Italian fleet. No one was injured in the incident."
http://sverigesradio.se/sida/gruppsida.aspx?programid=2054&grupp=3575&artikel=6221581
