Activist Thunberg and Others Sailing to Gaza Briefly Panic Spotting a Drone
The activist group calling itself the Freedom Flotilla Coalition continues to make its way across the Mediterranean heading towards Gaza although it had a brief scare on Tuesday night. The group put out an urgent appeal for help after it detected a drone only to later retract it after it was confirmed to have been a surveillance drone from Greece.
The group of a dozen people aboard the sailboat Barcarole, which they are calling Madleen, includes Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, actor Liam Cunningham, and member of the European Parliament Rima Hassan. They have been using social media to post videos and pictures as they make their way across the Mediterranean. They showed them enjoying time in the sun on deck and singing protest songs.
Late Tuesday night the tone however briefly changed as they posted scared pictures after donning lifejackets. According to their reports, the boat was approximately 40 nautical miles outside of Greek waters when the incident occurred.
“We can clearly see a drone to our left. It’s gaining on us a little bit. Please share this alert.” they said in a panicked video. “Please share our location.”
They reported the drone was briefly overhead and then departed. They later confirmed it was a Heron surveillance drone from the Hellenic Coast Guard. Greece regularly patrols its region as it monitors movements especially because of the strong influx of small migrant boats in the region.
From Forensic Architecture:
— ICBSG | ?????? ??????? ???? ?????? ?? ??? (@ICBSOFGAZA) June 3, 2025
Helenic Coast Guard Heron drone was seen active close to your location a couple of hours ago - ADSB hasn't updated assets location since 20:30 pm.
It did a similar trajectory the last couple of days. pic.twitter.com/RmsXNzSgOU
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition has accused Israel of attacking its first boat, a larger excursion vessel brought from Germany to make the trip. The group has reported it was struck by two projectiles while it was near Malta and disabled. The Maltese government confirmed a fire aboard the vessel.
The group set off on Sunday, June 1, aboard the 18-meter (59-foot) sailing vessel. They have said it will take about a week to reach Gaza. Aboard they have a symbolic amount of relief supplies which they said include baby formula, flour, rice, diapers, sanitary products, water desalination kits, medical supplies, crutches, and children’s prosthetics.
The mission is about calling attention to the situation and symbolically breaching the Israeli-imposed blockade of Gaza. The boat, which is registered in the UK, is decorated with and defiantly flying the flag of Palestine.
Israeli officials have not said how they will deal with this specific incursion. Media reports are quoting the spokesperson for the Israel Defense Force saying the “IDF is prepared to operate on all fronts, including the maritime arena. We will act accordingly.”
The sailboat’s AIS signal shows that it is currently south of Crete moving at approximately 6 knots. They have not entered a destination on the AIS signal.