Captain and crew of far-Right 'Defend Europe' Mediterranean migrant patrol mission arrested

The captain of the C-Star ship chartered by a group of far-right identitarian activists has been detained in Northern Cyprus along with a half dozen crew members in the latest mishap to plague the "Defend Europe” Mediterranean migrant patrol mission. 

A reporter at the Kibris Postasi newspaper in Northern Cyprus confirmed to the Telegraph that the captain and his deputy were arrested on Wednesday for allegedly falsifying documents. 

Other members of the crew, reportedly from Sri Lanka, have also been detained as their refugee status is reviewed. It is unclear if the vessel will be able to sail immediately with a new crew. 

The ship's owner, Swedish national and UK resident Sven Tomas Egerstrom, was also being questioned in Northern Cyprus. 

The asylum-related trouble for the C-Star is the latest embarrassing setback for a rag-tag group of young far-right activists from Europe and abroad who for weeks have been raising funds to bring the C-Star to Sicily in order to go on an anti-NGO mission they said was aimed at patrolling the central Mediterranean migrant route.  

“Our objective is to collaborate with the Libyan Coast Guard in Tripoli and inform them if we find boats in Libyan waters so those traffickers can be arrested and their boats destroyed,” Italian representative of Defend Europe Lorenzo Fiato told the Telegraph last week. 

Late on Wednesday the group issued a statement about the Cyprus incident blaming  NGO's for using "scandalous practices" to sabotage their mission, which they pledged to continue. 

"We will follow the rules, wait for the outcome of the investigations and will take all the necessary time to start the mission properly," they said.    But even if the ship is deported from Northern Cyprus, its next destination is unclear as Catania Mayor Enzo Bianco has formally requested Italian authorities not to allow the C-Star to dock in Catania due to concerns over public order. "They are not welcome guests here as they have come to seed intolerance," he said, reached by phone.

The ship has had delays from the very outset. First it was stopped for inspection by Egyptian authorities before passing the Suez Canal. Then, instead of following the usual route westward towards Italy, the ship sailed into Port of Famagusta, in Northern Cyprus, reportedly for resupply and a change of the 20-member crew. 

Once there, however, several of the sailors reportedly requested asylum, triggering an immigration investigation.

The London-based Hope not Hate political action group welcomed the news.

“We are glad that the vessel has been stopped and its crew removed as we’ve been providing extensive briefings to authorities in the region, alongside our partners, and viewed the arrival of the C-Star into the volatile mix off the Libyan coastline as extremely unwelcome – and likely to increase the risk of loss of life in the area,” said Nick Ryan, spokesman for Hope not Hate.

The crew and the ship were part of a charter package offered by Maritime Global Services Ltd, a Cardiff-based company owned by Mr Egerstrom, who was convicted of fraud in Sweden in 2002, but went on to build a successful business providing marine supply logistics to defence contractors and private entrepreneurs operating in high-risk areas. 

The ship is no stranger to troubled waters. Before Mr Egerstrom bought C-Star, it was called the Suunta and was used as a floating armoury for military contractors involved in anti-piracy and other operations in east Africa, according to  a report by the House of Commons Committees on Arms Exports Controls.