ROME -- Two Italian fishing boats were seized during the night in the Mediterranean and were brought to dock at the port of Alexandria in Egypt, the Italian embassy in Cairo said Thursday, who are currently hot on the case.

 The boats ‘Ghibli I’ and Giulia PG’ are from Mazara del Vallo in Italy, and in each ship were seven crew members -- four Italian and three Tunisian. The two boats were the protagonists, in 2008, of a difficult rescue mission of 650 migrants aboard two boats off the coast of Lampedusa during a storm.

 “The seizing of two fishing vessels from Mazara happened at around 10 p.m. yesterday evening, at about 28 miles from the Egyptian coastline, thus in international waters,” said Giovanni Tumbiolo, president of the Productive Fishing Ward and the Blue Growth, which ‘Ghibli I’ and ‘Giulia PG’ are both part of.

 The captain aboard ‘Ghibli I’ was Faro Licavoli, and the captain of ‘Giulia PG’ was Michele Gennaro, and the ships are owned by a company that is directed by Luciano Giacalone and Domenico Asaro.

 “The crew were fishing with the nets at a depth of about 600 metres when they were ordered to stop by the Egyptian naval military. Some men came aboard and commanded the ships to head towards Alexandria, which they reached at about 4.30 a.m.,” continued Tumbiolo.

 “In order for a prompt release we have already activated the institutional chain, with the regional councillor Antonello Cracolici, the undersecretary of Foreign Affairs Vincenzo Amendola, and the Italian ambassador in Cairo Giampaolo Cantini who has already reached Alexandria. We are also in contact with the Egyptian authorities, with whom we have excellent relations,” Tumbiolo concluded.

 ‘Ghibli I’ had already been seized by the Egyptians about four years ago, along with three other fishing boats, and ‘Giulia PG’ had also undergone the same fate in Oct. 2013 -- along with the boat ‘Daniela L.’ -- by Bengasi militiamen who stopped it about 40 miles away from the Cyrenaica coast. For the boat to be released, the owners had to undergo two trials and pay a ransom. ‘Daniela L’ is still in the hands of the Libyans.

 nkd