The crew of the ship Vos Thalassa has barricaded themselves on the bridge after a number of Africans rescued at sea began trying to seize control of the ship (archived). The commercial vessel rescued 60 African migrants at sea in the Libyan coast guard's area of responsibility. Being a commercial cargo vessel and not a vessel run by an organization dedicated to building a Nation of Africa in Europe, the cargo vessel issued its own distress call when the migrants took poorly to the prospect of being disembarked in Libya.

Vos Thalassa is an Italian flagged offshore supply vessel currently supporting oil and gas operations for the French firm Total (archived).