(B2) The boarding of a suspicious Turkish container ship by a German frigate participating in Operation Irini ended on Sunday (22.11) off Benghazi, Libya
Hamburg's boarding party on board the container ship Roseline A (credit: EUNAVFOR Med Irini)
An Arkas ship spotted between Crete and Libya
It all started when a Turkish merchant ship 'Roseline A' was intercepted on Sunday (22.11) afternoon by the German frigate 'Hamburg', at about 160 nautical miles (approx. 280 km) north of Benghazi in eastern Libya. An interception made as part of an international arms embargo monitoring mandate and the European maritime operation EUNAVFOR Med Irini.
... with suspicion of transporting weapons
It was 15:30 p.m. according to official sources. The container ship, flying the Turkish flag, and belonging to the company Arkas (which works in particular for the Deutsche Bahn - rail transport company), had left Ambarli in Turkey, direction: Misrata (port under the control of the government of Tripoli). It was suspected of containing weapons destined for Libya.
German soldiers told to return to their ship
A mission that is not routine », contrary to what some media say (1). When a Turkish ship is searched, a reaction is expected. It didn't take long. " Just hours after German soldiers boarded the ship in the late afternoon ”, Turkey officially protested according to the media Der Spiegel.
From a cooperative attitude to a clear refusal of Ankara
Point confirmed to the Bundeswehr. " Initially, the situation on board was cooperative “, specifies the German operations staff in a tweet (2). Corn " afterwards " the wind has turned: the flag State — Turkey - did not accept the boarding ". Contacted by B2, the Irini operation, confirms with some additional details.
Good Faith Efforts to Obtain Flag State Agreement
The European operation considers that it has made " good faith efforts to obtain the consent of the flag State (Turkey). But this one has not answered ". Hence this inspection with the cooperation of the " captain of the ship as well as the crew ". It is only then that the flag State has " clearly stated that he refused permission to inspect the ship ". Order (3) was then given to suspend the inspection activity.
Turkey does not answer four hours
According to our information, Irini's command and the German soldiers actually waited more than four hours before intervening. No response having come from Ankara, the inspection was ordered. The principle being that a non-response within a certain period is equivalent to consent. " If there is no objection within a certain period of time — around four hours — this is considered implied consent. confirmed Christian Thiels, spokesperson for the German Ministry of Defence*.
On board until sunrise for safety
The boarding party is however " stayed on board until sunrise ", after having " consulted and obtained the agreement of the captain of the merchant ship. This " in order to be able to return to the Hamburg in complete safety “, we say on the German side. THE 'Roseline A' was then able to continue its route towards Libya and reached Misrara during the day on Monday.
No illegal material on board
Officially, according to the Turks, the ship was carrying humanitarian aid. " No illicit material was found on board during the inspection we say to Irini. A point that needs to be relativized. The soldiers did not have time to search everything on board. The ship had about 150 containers on board.
A report will be made to the UN
Questioned by the press at noon (4) on Monday (24.11), Peter Stano, the spokesperson for the High Representative of the EU, made a point of clarifying three points.
First, Operation Irini acts “ always according to a certain amount of information at its disposal ", in the case " inspections, calls or communications with suspicious vessels ". These are not random checks...
Secondly, the flag State under which the vessel is sailing " has the right to refuse inspection ". When Operation Irini makes the request, if the responsible State does not agree, the inspection cannot take place. Of course, there was contacts between us and the Turkish partners, because the Turks do not give the authorization to carry out the inspection of the entities for which they are responsible ».
Thirdly, who are " in the event of non-inspection — and in many cases of inspection, appeal or suspicion —, Irini reports to the UN ».
And to add, by way of preamble: it is " important that Irini fulfills his mandate ". It's about " to enforce the embargo established at the international level (and unanimously approved in the United Nations Security Council). NB: Operation Irini has so far carried out five boardings of this type.
Comment: a real Turkish desire to circumvent the embargo
From possible suspect, the ship becomes truly suspect
We are witnessing the same desire to escape control on the orders of the Ankara authorities, with the same pretext of humanitarian aid. One being contradictory to the other. Considering the category of ships, container ships, it seems obvious that the ship did not contain only weapons. But it is not excluded at all that one or more containers contained such equipment... In view of the Turkish attitude, one can have a (very) big doubt. If we are really faced with material as harmless as announced (paint and humanitarian aid), there is no reason to oppose control, except from a political point of view. The fact that the search was interrupted at a key moment is, in itself, disturbing.
The showdown between Europeans and Ankara continues
While a miss dominici Turk (the Turkish President's national security adviser) was visiting Brussels on Friday (20.11) to convince senior European officials of Turkish goodwill, this incident shows that nothing has changed in Ankara. By provoking Germany, which is a staunch supporter of 'positive' dialogue with Turkey, it is not certain that Recep Tayyip Erdogan will improve his relations with the Europeans. However, the Heads of State and Government must decide on December 10 and 11 on the implementation of retaliatory measures, starting with the reduction of relations with the former Ottoman Empire.
This scenario makes it possible to carry out the inspection on board, with the agreement of the captain of the vessel, without requiring any additional agreement. Read article to follow
Here is the full script of the response, drawn up by B2: “Operation Irini is a very important contribution by the EU to find a solution, a peaceful solution to the Libyan crisis. Over the last days, or in the recent weeks, we have seen steps which are a cause for a relatively cautious optimism that we are heading or at least advancing slowly towards a possible solution on the ground. And it is important that Irini delivers on its mandate. The mandate is to enforce the UN arms embargo. Operation Irini acts always when it comes to inspections, hailing or communications with suspected vessels on a certain amount of information that it has at its disposable. The countries of the flag of the region the vessels are navigating have the right to refuse the inspection. Operation Irini makes the request, if the country which is responsible for the ship says they don't agree with the inspection, the inspection cannot proceed. So in this case and in many cases of inspection, or hailing or suspicions, Irini reports back to the UN. There were contacts between us and the Turkish partners of course because the Turks they are not giving the permission for the inspection, which they are entitled to. What follows is again the process which is enshrined in the mandate of operation Irini. »
* Updated: elements provided by Irini, photo of the boarding, info on the length of the contacts between Europeans and Turks, details on the 4 hour deadline. And additional items.
Chief editor of the B2 site. Graduated in European law from the University of Paris I Pantheon Sorbonne and listener to the 65th session of the IHEDN (Institut des Hautes Etudes de la Défense Nationale. Journalist since 1989, founded B2 - Bruxelles2 in 2008. EU/NATO correspondent in Brussels for Sud-Ouest (previously West-France and France-Soir).
