A Guardia di Finanza patrol ship caught fire and sank. The incident occurred in the early hours of Thursday 1 July off the coast of Africo, in the province of Reggio Calabria, where unit G94 of the Guardia di Finanza, provided by the Sezione Navale di Crotone, sank engulfed in flames.

According to preliminary investigation, it was around 4:30am when, the Nave Cappelletti, a unit of the Sezione Navale della Guardia di Finanza, burst into flames. The call for help was intercepted by the Coast Guard in Roccella, who alerted the fire brigade in Reggio Calabria. The fire brigade interceded with two motorboats, one from Messina and one from Gioia Tauro.

After departing from the port of Crotone, Nave Cappelletti was working on night patrol. On board were nine officers, who managed to save themselves, putting on life jackets and abandoning ship, then distancing themselves with the life raft.

When the rescue services arrived the flames had already engulfed the patrol ship completely, as can be seen in this video, which quickly went viral online. The patrol ship sank quickly off the Costa dei Gelsomini, between Bianco and Africo. With daybreak, aerial surveying began using a helicopter from the Reggio Calabria fire brigade.

The G94 “Cappelletti” was a 27 metre coast guard vessel, provided by the Sezione Operativa Navale di Crotone. At the time of reporting the cause of the fire is unknown nor is the plan for recovering the sunken ship.

Giuseppe Orrù