This is the moment a charity rescue ship came under heavy machine gun fire from the Libyan coastguard in the Mediterranean as its crew raced to help a stricken migrant boat.
Britons were among the crew of the Ocean Viking, which had already rescued 87 people from two sinking boats when it turned towards a third distress signal on August 24.
The attack happened about 40 nautical miles north of the Libyan coast, outside Libyan territorial waters.
As the Norwegian-flagged ship changed course, a Libyan patrol boat closed in at high speed, and crew members said the officers were armed and opened fire without warning.
Crew members say the incident occurred despite the relevant authorities being informed about their mission.
Lucille Guenier, the ship’s communications officer, said: ‘We are used to this, we know they will intimidate us. I realised that now they’re pointing arms at us – we didn’t have a moment to do anything and they opened fire, shooting at the bridge.’
Angelo Selim, who was the search and rescue coordinator on board, said: ‘In the beginning, I didn’t understand the noise of the shots. But when the first windows exploded on my head, we all got on the floor.’
He said that the shots being fired appeared to be coming from automatic weapons. Selim says he also heard the coast guard threatening: ‘If you don’t leave the area, we will come and kill you all.’
This is the moment a charity rescue ship came under heavy machine gun fire from the Libyan coastguard in the Mediterranean as its crew raced to help a stricken migrant boat
The attack happened about 40 nautical miles north of the Libyan coast, outside Libyan territorial waters
The ship was rescuing a distressed migrant boat in the Mediterranean when it was attacked. Picture for illustrative purposes
The gunfire lasted for around 15 to 20 minutes, according to the crew, who described it as ‘hundreds of shots’. Bullets smashed through the bridge windows as a translator tried to calm the situation.
‘They started insulting him and his family,’ Guenier said. ‘This time the bullets were coming through the walls and windows of the bridge, the windows were exploding, glass was going everywhere.’ In another interview, Guenier said she felt ‘we are going to die.’
According to The Times, Patrick, a 29-year-old British crew member, said he was asleep when the shooting began. ‘I didn’t realise the gravity of the situation until I heard the rounds,’ he said. ‘I had to grab my boots and ran, carrying them in my arms.’
The crew gathered in the ship’s citadel for safety. ‘Some people were in shock and crying. We feared for our colleagues who were still on the bridge,’ Patrick added.
The Ocean Viking abandoned its rescue attempt and asked Italian authorities for a safe port. It later sent distress calls to NATO and the Italian navy.
The Libyan vessel was a Corrubia-class patrol boat supplied by Italy in 2023 as part of an EU programme to strengthen Libya’s border forces.
‘The Libyan ship was faster than ours at 20 knots, our ship’s top speed is 10 knots, so we couldn’t race them, and there was a risk they’d board us,’ Guenier said.
No one was injured, but the Ocean Viking suffered major damage to its bridge and three lifeboats, leaving key rescue equipment out of service.
The windows of the ship suffered damage as the coast guard fired in an attack that is said to have lasted around 15 to 20 minutes
Although no one was hurt in the attack, the ship suffered significant damage
Italian prosecutors have launched an investigation after SOS Méditerranée and the EU border agency Frontex filed complaints.
After disembarking survivors in Augusta, Sicily, the crew was held in quarantine for more than four days because one rescued migrant tested positive for tuberculosis. Patrick said it felt like ‘being detained within a crime scene.’
Frontex called the incident ‘deeply concerning’ and said: ‘No rescuer should ever be put in danger while carrying out life-saving work.’
SOS Méditerranée described the shooting as ‘outrageous and unacceptable’ and urged EU nations to take action over the attack.
The Libyan coastguard, which receives funding and training from the EU, has declined to comment. The UK Foreign Office said it was ‘monitoring the situation.’
So far this year, 42,500 migrants have reached Italy by sea, and it has been reported that more than 700 have drowned in the central Mediterranean.