Warships & Waves

Stormy seas portend trouble to the south...

You may or may not know that Malta is quite close to Libya, the most recent nation experiencing an attempted democratic revolution. Today, I walked out of the gym to this sight:

So, the video (shot on an iPod Nano) isn't nearly as cool as it looked in person. The ship was too far away to try to identify, but the paper here is reporting that an Italian frigate is keeping close watch on a defected Libyan warship sailing towards Malta and a that French frigate arrived today as well.

Yesterday, I watched from the same spot as a large ferry, which normally run between Malta and Sicily, sailed into Valetta. The U.S. charted two of these ferries to head to Libya to pick up all available U.S. nationals. The ships are currently sheltered in a Libyan port awaiting calmer seas for departure. And don't fear dear tax payers, the paper reports that all those who make the trip will have to reimburse the U.S. government.

Other notes:

• Libyan protestors in Malta are protesting at the embassy here, demanding that the ambassador step down. So far he has refused.
• Several days ago, two Libyan fighter jets landed in Malta as the pilots defected after allegedly being ordered to bomb fellow citizens.

If you are worried (Moms), Allison and I are completely safe here. This is simply a case of Malta, as it has for milennia, being in a very strategic spot of the Mediterranean world.