A picture published by the Greek newspaper Kathimerini on Wednesday revealed the damage sustained to the right side of the stern of the Turkish “Kamel Rais” ship after it collided with a Greek frigate on August 12th.
“The collision occurred when the ship, the Kamel Rais, sought to obstruct the Greek frigate, Lemnos, which was monitoring the movements of the Turkish survey ship over the Greek continental shelf in the eastern Mediterranean,” the newspaper said.
Greek defense sources told the newspaper that the attempt to obstruct the Greek ship forced them to turn around in order to avoid a head-on collision and in the meantime, the stern of the Turkish frigate at the bow of the ship was destroyed.
The same sources added that Lemnos suffered some damage near the pumping room of the Turkish ship.
Meanwhile, Greek Defense Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos on Tuesday congratulated the captain of the Greek frigate during a short conversation over radio waves, and the Greek ship’s captain, Ioannis Salyaris, assured the Minister of Defense that he had done his duty during the incident.
The minister also spoke by phone with his German counterpart, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, explaining that Greece is ready to enter into dialogue with Turkey within the framework of international law in the event that Turkey immediately withdraws its warships and seismic research ships from the Greek continental shelf.
