Mission in the Aegean Sea, the Albanian Naval Force rescue the lives of 115 Syrian immigrants

Published: Monday, 23 October 2017 15:20

115 children, women and men, all Syrian immigrants have arrived safely on the shore, thanks to the professionalism of the "Oriku" ship crew, on mission to the Aegean Sea. According to information from the Naval Force Command, immigrants were sailing from the Turkish coast to the Greek island of Chios. "Oriku" crew detected them and notified the Turkish and Greek counterparts. There have been two search and rescue operations in succession of the Albanian ship, which for almost a year represents Albania in the  "Sea Guardian”, the NATO operation in the Aegean Sea.

In these 12 months, there are 700 rescued lives, including over 300 children and women. The Albanian Naval Force ship is engaged in the NATO operation in the Aegean Sea to prevent the flow of illegal immigrants attempting to enter European Union countries.

"Oriku" ship has been participating since December of last year in the NATO operation in the Aegean Sea and currently, the 6th Contingent of the Albanian Naval Force is deployed there. This contingent is commanded by Lieutenant Commander Silvan Boni and for the first time, two ladies are part of the crew. Lieutenant Aurela Bala and Sergeant Esmeralda Murati, are the first two ladies of the Albanian Armed Forces, part of an international naval operation.