TIRANA, June 23 – An Albanian fishing boat has been taken hostage by an Egyptian sailor who is threatening to sink the boat with his two Albanian colleague sailors on board unless the boat’s owner pays him an alleged debt of Euro 70,000, police say.
The à‡elepia fishing boat with Albanian captain Dhimiter Malja, 54, and two sailors, Albanian Luan Mema, 56, and Egyptian Adel Mohamed Sallam, 30, on board is believed to have disappeared in Monday evening after being authorized to fish in Albanian waters last weekend.
The boat’s owner Murat Celepia reported the boat’s disappearance to the police in the midnight hours of Tuesday after losing contact with the crew. The owner’s son has denied all claims of being indebted to the Egyptian citizen, although the latter has filed a complaint to the Egyptian Embassy in Tirana.
He told Tirana Times that his last communication with Adel Muhamed Sallam was carried out via WhatsApp and Sallam demanded 70,000 Euros in ransom, threatening to sink the boat with the two Albanian hostages. “He was content while working with us. He was paid well and even received bonuses. We urge the government to bring our sailors back alive. We are willing to respond to the ransom request but we do not know how. The state must help us,” à‡elepia told Tirana Times.
Police in the coastal city of Durres suspect the à‡elepia fishing boat might have been hijacked for human trafficking to transport migrants from northern Africa to Italy or it might have been sold to human traffickers. They believe to have pinpointed Libya as the fishing boat’s location. Police in Durres are collaborating with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Albanian Embassy in Egypt. The have contacted with Egyptian authorities in an attempt to shed light on the incident. Meanwhile, relatives of the two Albanian sailors who have gone missing have called on government officials to do everything to bring them back home.
Another fishing boat temporarily lost contact with Durres Port authorities on Wednesday but was later located in northern Albanian waters.
