{"id":295850,"date":"2025-05-02T12:46:05","date_gmt":"2025-05-02T12:46:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/02\/explosions-cripple-ship-carrying-aid-to-gaza-in-the-mediterranean-sea\/"},"modified":"2025-05-02T12:46:05","modified_gmt":"2025-05-02T12:46:05","slug":"explosions-cripple-ship-carrying-aid-to-gaza-in-the-mediterranean-sea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/02\/explosions-cripple-ship-carrying-aid-to-gaza-in-the-mediterranean-sea\/","title":{"rendered":"Explosions Cripple Ship Carrying Aid to Gaza in the Mediterranean Sea"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/05\/02\/multimedia\/02xp-gaza-ship-tvgf\/02xp-gaza-ship-tvgf-facebookJumbo.jpg?ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Explosions Cripple Ship Carrying Aid to Gaza in the Mediterranean Sea\" title=\"Explosions Cripple Ship Carrying Aid to Gaza in the Mediterranean Sea\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">A ship carrying 16 people and humanitarian aid to Gaza was rocked by explosions early 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.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">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 <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.mt\/en\/Government\/DOI\/Press%20Releases\/Pages\/2025\/05\/02\/pr250720.aspx\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">statement<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">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.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">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. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">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. <\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">It was unclear Friday morning whether the ship, which was damaged, would be allowed to dock in Malta. The source of the explosion has not been determined, and it was not known whether the ship had been deliberately targeted.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Crew members believed they had been hit by a drone attack, the coalition said. At around 12:20 a.m. local time, armed drones fired two bombs at the front of the ship when the ship neared Malta, the coalition said in a statement. <\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">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\u2019s account could not be independently confirmed. <\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Video provided by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition and verified by The New York Times appears to show a fire on the ship\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-2\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The authorities in Malta said they received a mayday call from a passenger vessel of the same name at around 12:20 a.m., reporting a fire on the bow. No casualties were reported, the Maltese government said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">A nearby tug vessel with firefighting equipment helped to bring the fire under control by 1:30 a.m., according to Malta\u2019s statement. Less than an hour later, the crew were confirmed to be safe. <\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Ann Wright, another spokeswoman for the group, said that the crew had stayed aboard instead of evacuating to keep watch over the disabled ship.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">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, Ms. Wright said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Israel has restricted humanitarian aid from entering the Gaza Strip, barring it most recently <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/03\/03\/world\/middleeast\/gaza-aid-israel.html\" title=\"\">since March<\/a> in an effort to pressure Hamas into accepting a proposal to extend a cease-fire. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-3\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Israeli military has blocked past attempts by pro-Palestinian activists to bring aid to Gaza by sea, including by force. <\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In 2010, nine passengers aboard the Mavi Marmara, a flotilla carrying aid from Turkey to Gaza, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2010\/06\/01\/world\/middleeast\/01flotilla.html\" title=\"\">were killed in an Israeli commando raid<\/a>, sparking international outrage and a deterioration in Turkish-Israeli relations. <\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">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.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">There were 12 crew members and four civilian passengers on board the ship, according to the Maltese government and the Freedom Flotilla Coalition. <\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which has challenged Israel\u2019s blockade of Gaza by delivering humanitarian aid there, called on the international community to condemn the attack.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cAttacking international human rights activists in international waters is a war crime,\u201d Ms. Acar said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-798hid etfikam0\">Jiawei Wang<!-- --> contributed reporting from Seoul.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/05\/02\/world\/europe\/freedom-flotilla-ship-aid-gaza-malta-thunberg.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A ship carrying 16 people and humanitarian aid to Gaza was rocked by explosions early 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. The ship and its crew were safe after a tug vessel helped extinguish [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":295851,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/05\/02\/multimedia\/02xp-gaza-ship-tvgf\/02xp-gaza-ship-tvgf-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[41,911,9256,137233,34283,167650,43,32652,42709,3096,195880,8759,104204,3691,4190],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295850"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=295850"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295850\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":295852,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295850\/revisions\/295852"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/295851"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=295850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=295850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=295850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}