M/V Kartepe hijacked in Marmara Sea
11 Nov 2011 3 Comments
M/V Kartepe, a high speed passenger vessel belonging to the municipality of Izmit was hijacked by 4 or 5 terrorist this evening as the vessel was on her routine voyage from Izmit to Karamursel.
According to news reports there are 19 passengers, 6 crew. The terrorist overwhelmed the crew and entered into the bridge by saying that bombs are strapped to their bodies.
Currently, I as write this, the vessel is moving in Marmara Sea without a particular heading. The remaining fuel can last 120 nautical miles. The terrorists did not contact any authorities for any demands yet.
An unidentified number of Turkish Coast Guard vessels some salvage and rescue ships and most probably teams of Turkish naval special forces are shadowing the hijacked vessel.
turkishnavy.net 
Mayor of Izmit reports that the crew says there is only one hijacker, but that may, of course, be just what the hijackers want the crew to say:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15701025#TWEET26575
Update: Commandos board and kill the lone assailant, who had explosives. No others injured. Well done to the Turkish forces!
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2011/11/2011111242237114298.html
For future reference, as shown on AIS picture by Ocengoing at SSF, TCSG 106, a KAAN-29 boat, was involved in the operation.