The activists on board the Conscience ship from Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) say they must have been attacked by drones off the coast of Malta night until Friday. It is unclear who is behind the attack. FFC is a network of organizations fighting against Israel’s blockade of Gaza. They accuse Israel, but have not provided evidence of this. The ship should have been on its way to the Gaza Strip with emergency aid on board, but should only pick up another 70 members of the group in Malta. Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg was to be one of them, according to Reuters. The picture should show fire on board the activist vessel. Photo: Freedom Flotilla news has tried to get hold of the IDF and asked them what they know about the attack, but has not yet received an answer. Interpreting the images Maltese authorities have confirmed that there has been a fire on board the ship, in a press release. New images posted by FFC show damage to the tire of the ship. FFC posted pictures of the ship deck on Friday. Photo: Freedom Flotilla Coalition They have also shared videos that will show powerful flames aboard the ship, and you can hear the sound of a loud bang. news has asked professor of aviation science at the University of Tromsø Vegard Nergård to interpret the pictures. He says it is difficult to say what type of attack the boat has been exposed to. Professor of aviation science at the University of Tromsø Vegard Nergård thinks it looks like there may be a drone attack. Photo: Pål Hansen / news – The attack can be done by drones, says Nergård. On the other hand, he can’t say anything about what drones are used, but says it looks like potent explosives have been used. – We have vessels near the boat and control of everyone on board, confirms Maltese forces to news on Friday morning. The Malta government confirms that a boat came and extinguished the fire at The Conscience. Photo: Goverment of Malta / Reuters / NTB In a press release, the Maltese authorities also say that the crew did not want to evacuate the tug that arrived at the ship and helped to extinguish the fire. Much still unclear there are several things about the incident that Fredeles is not clear. It is not confirmed how many people were on board the boat. “We have 30 international human rights activists on board the vessel right now, on a vessel that is sinking,” Acar told CNN. The Maltese authorities write in a press release that there was a crew of twelve and four civilians on board. Torstein Dahle is the leader of Ship to Gaza Norway, the Norwegian organization located under FFC states another figure to news. – There were participants from 21 countries on board, he says. The map shows about where the ship was night to Friday, according to data from the MarinePraffic tracking service. Tracking of the ship shows it had been calm since Thursday at 12 o’clock. There are also disagreements for the boat to sink. “There is a hole in the vessel right now and the ship is sinking,” press officer Yasemin Acar told CNN on the phone from Malta on Friday morning American time. Torstein Dahle in Ship to Gaza Norway says the boat began to take in water after the drone attack, but that there was no danger of it sinking. Timeline: 00:20 Malta Vessel Traffic Services (VTS) received an emergency call from the passenger vessel Conscience, according to a press release from the Maltese authorities. The crew reported a fire on the bow while they were in international waters. The Maltese authorities report the vessel had twelve crew on board and four civilian passengers. No dead were reported. VTS reports that the crew confirmed the fire was not under control and demanded immediate assitation. 00:21 A tug equipped for fire extinguishing about one nautical mile away, contacted VTS and offered immediate help. 00:23 The ship Conscience was hit by a drone attack, it is claimed in a post Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) posted on social media later in the night. 01:28 The fire was reported under control and a patrol boat from the Maltese Navy was sent out for further assistance, Maltese authorities said. 02:01 A surveillance video from the ship filmed with an external camera shows six people dressed in civilian on deck. One of them holds a fire extinguisher while several movies with a mobile camera. 02:13 The crew was reported to be safe, but refused to board the tug, according to the Maltese authorities. Assistance with fire extinguishing was provided. 03:45 The vessel and crew are safe, according to the Maltese authorities. 04:32 Freedom Flotilla Coalition posts the first video of the incident on social media (X) asking for help to put pressure on the Maltese authorities for help to save the boat and the crew of a total of 30 pieces, according to them. The video claims the boat was hit twice by the drone attack at the video is further spread on social media. The FFC claims Israel is behind the drone attack. The following three hours publish FFC several posts asking for help from the international community and that the boat is in danger of sinking with 30 people on board. 12:45 FFC posts pictures of the damage to the ship deck. Israeli authorities have not commented on the incident. It was also not clear who was behind the attack. The IDF has so far not commented on the attack to the media. An Israeli C-130 Hercules aircraft left Israel early Thursday afternoon and flew to Malta, according to ADS-B Exchange. That’s what CNN writes. The plane did not land in Malta’s international airport, but flew relatively low over eastern Malta for several hours. Shortly thereafter, Freedom Flotilla Coalition reported that their vessels were attacked. Flight tracking data shows that Hercules returned to Israel about seven hours later. The Israeli military, the IDF, refused to comment on this to CNN. Sent SOS Yasemin Acar said the ship had “sent out SOS calls to the nearby countries, including Malta”, and that a “small boat” from the Turkish-controlled part of Cyprus had been sent to assist them. She added that she had managed to contact crew members after the SOS signal was sent out. “What is happening in international waters against peace activists is a war crime,” the organization’s press officer Acar told Swedish TV4. She says they have not been in contact with the burning ship since early Friday morning. Published 02.05.2025, at. 08.26 Updated 02.05.2025, at. 17.43
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