Two fishing boats of the Mazara del Vallo navy, Antarctica and Medinea, were seized by Libyan authorities about 35 miles north of Benghazi.
Two other fishing boats, which were sailing nearby, managed to escape capture.
In total, eighteen sailors were brought to Benghazi by the Libyan military.
They are the components of the two vessels seized, Medinea and Antarctica, and the commanders of the two who managed to escape, Anna Madre di Mazara del Vallo and Natalino di Pozzallo (Ragusa).
They would all be fine.
The commanders of the four fishing boats were put on a rubber dinghy of the Libyan navy and while this operation was in progress, two of the four Sicilian fishing boats managed to escape.
The seizure of Italian fishing boats took place late yesterday evening, about 40 miles from the coast of Benghazi, an area where there were 9 or 10 boats.
The mayor of Mazara del Vallo, Salvatore Quinci, says so.
"I have no elements to substantiate my hypothesis - he adds - but I think the timing is not accidental: the kidnapping took place while our Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio was in Libya and was carried out by maritime authorities that belong to the self-proclaimed government of the east of the country ".
"It goes without saying that the Mazara del Vallo navy is very worried and we all are. But I have confidence in our embassy which in similar situations has had impeccable behavior", he concludes.
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