Speedboat tries to ram coast guard patrol vessel

The coast guard said on Thursday that a speedboat carrying 25 foreign nationals made repeated attempts to ram one of its patrol boats during a pursuit near the southeast Aegean island of Kos.  

The incident, it said, occurred on Wednesday morning when a coast guard patrol vessel spotted the boat moving at high speed without navigation lights within Greek territorial waters toward the coast of Kos.

A pursuit ensued, with the speedboat trying to ram the coast guard vessel, endangering the occupants and the crew of both boats. The speedboat struck the patrol boat sideways, damaging itself in the process. However, the speedboat did not stop despite the risk of capsizing.

The crew of the patrol boat eventually immobilized the speedboat and transferred the foreign nationals, the skipper and his alleged assistant to the port of Kos. One of them was transferred to the local hospital.