A Witness Speaks Out

The latest episode of Ghost Boat is coming out later today, but we wanted to give you a heads up… and introduce some new evidence into the mix.

This Just In

For this episode we’ve met and spoken with one of the crucial witnesses in the Italian court case against the men at the center of the smuggling ring linked to the Ghost Boat. He’s an Eritrean man called Berhane Isayas — one of the family members who has taken on a great deal of investigating the mystery on his own.

Here’s his statement to the Italian prosecutor, which we’re sharing with permission. A close read should provide some new clues, although we’ve redacted some private information such as people’s names, addresses and phone numbers.

Meanwhile, Kirk Pettinga has been making some progress on the vessel data we filed as evidence previously. He writes:

Here’s some links to the maps I’ve been creating. They’re grouped by vessel type (the AIS type) and they plot the paths of ships that passed through an area within 200km off the coast of Tripoli and Zuwara. Between 34.5ºN and 11.5º to 14ºE, to be exact. I figured the ghostboat would have passed through this area after departing Tripoli or Zuwara and we should identify the ships that were there (about 50 all together). I tried to focus on the vessels that were at sea rather than those at port. I figured the boat would try to stay away from busy ports when they ventured out.

2 Italian Coast Guard Boats
3 Fishing Boats
11 Tug Boats
15 Cargo Vessels
13 Tankers
6 Vessels classified as “Other”

Tremendous work. And great to have this before our workshop in NYC this weekend.

Morsels

Silvia Canciani drops a note about the smuggling case, with some links to relevant material in Italian, including the tale of another Tokhla witness. Meanwhile Ross Whiteford has been back digging into intelligence materials, and has discovered a US military vessel that may be worth looking at more closely.

Lots to chew over. Episode 5 coming soon.

Onward.

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