Turkish trading vessel butts into Greek navy patrol boat

A Turkish-flagged merchant ship collided briefly with a Hellenic Navy gunboat Armatolos just off the coast of the eastern Aegean island of Lesvos in the early hours of Friday.

The incident occurred as the Armatolos was on patrol inside Greek waters, according to an announcement from the navy's General Staff, which said the Turkish-flagged Karmate sped up and sailed back towards Turkey after approaching and butting into the Hellenic Navy craft, without responding to the gunboat's radio calls.

The Armatolos's patrol was part of an allied exercise called Aegean Activity for controlling migrant flows into the Aegean. The Greek ship went on its way after the incident as it had caused no injuries or damage.