Gaza-bound ship tries to flee Greece - CNN International

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Gaza flotilla activists demonstrate outside the U.S. embassy in Greece against the blockage by international authorities of their boats.Canadian ship in flotilla tries to flee GreeceGreece calls for the arrest of the captainDelegates on the ship are non violent in trying to block the wheel house, a journalist on board tweets

Athens, Greece (CNN) -- One of the ships in a Gaza-bound flotilla blocked by Greece tried to flee on Monday and was stopped by the Greek coast guard.

Greece called for the immediate arrest of the ship's captain.

The Canadian ship, the Tahrir, issued a statement earlier saying it was "casting off from Greece."

"The Tahrir is leaving port in Crete, and we are breaking through Israel's Gaza blockade which now extends to Greek ports," organizer David Heap said in the statement.

The ship's official Twitter feed carried a tweet from a journalist on board, Jim Rankin, saying kayakers were blocking the coast guard, and the Canadian boat had left the harbor.

Minutes later, the ship tweeted, "We got about 5km (3.1 miles) away from shore. Greek authorities have taken over the boat and appear to be heading back to port."

Rankin tweeted that no one was injured in the Greek takeover of the boat, and delegates were "non violent in blocking wheel house."

The Greek coast guard issued a statement saying, "The Tahrir tried to leave the port of Agios Nikolaos in Crete without permission. The coast guard has intercepted the ship and it is now being taken back to the port. As a result the prosecutor's office has already asked for the immediate arrest of the captain. It is not clear if this will be extended to other passengers on board. There are an estimated 40 people aboard the ship."

The Tahrir is one of 10 ships trying to head to Gaza despite Israel's maritime blockade.

CNN's Greg Botelho contributed to this report.

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