By DASHNOR KALOÇI
Part One
Memorie.al / Throughout the nearly 45-year period of Enver Hoxha’s communist regime and that of his successor, Ramiz Alia, from the beginning of 1945 until 1991, the Albanian territorial waters – from the northernmost border near Franz Josef Island of the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, down to Cape Stillo at the country’s southernmost tip on the border with Greece – witnessed hundreds of maritime incidents, as they were frequently violated by foreign ships and other floating vessels, such as motorboats, skiffs, yachts, etc., belonging to various states. Ranging from those of neighboring countries, such as Greek, Italian, and Yugoslav, to Israeli, American, and Soviet ones – which for official Tirana and its leader, Enver Hoxha, were considered the three most hostile countries, with which the People’s Socialist Republic of Albania categorically did not have and refused to establish official relations.
If we take a look at the archival documents containing the operational communiqués of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, it appears that the violation of territorial waters by foreign ships was more pronounced from 1968 until 1990, when the communist regime in power began to waver, a situation which also led to its downfall in early 1991. And throughout this entire period, the area with the most maritime incidents and where the most foreign ships and motorboats were captured turns out to be the zone around Sazan Island and along the Vlora coastline, starting from Porto-Palermo, Zvërnec, up to near the mouth of the Seman River.
Given also the situation of those years, now known as the “Cold War” period, almost all foreign ships and watercraft that violated Albanian territorial waters were considered “hostile” by the ruling communist regime, and that “they came for reconnaissance and diversion purposes,” which meant they were pursued and escorted by ships of the Albanian Naval Fleet (torpedo boats) to the nearest ports, such as Saranda, Vlora, Durrës, and Shëngjin. Regarding these and other matters, we are informed by a number of secret archival documents (now declassified), extracted from the Archive of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which are published for the first time, along with their respective facsimiles, by Memorie.al
ARCHIVAL DOCUMENT OF THE MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS, WITH THE OPERATIONAL COMMUNIQUÉ DATED MARCH 26, 1968, REGARDING THE CAPTURE OF THE ITALIAN VESSEL “STELA” NEAR THE MOUTH OF THE SEMAN RIVER
PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF ALBANIA Secret
MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS Copy No. 1
DIRECTORATE OF ADMINISTRATION AND STUDIES Tirana, 26.3.1968
OPERATIONAL COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 72
Near the mouth of the Seman River, an Italian motorboat was captured.
On 25.3.1968, at 18:00, our fishing motorboat “Peza,” about 5 miles from the mouth of the Seman, caught the Italian motorboat “Stela,” with a crew of 5, fishing in our waters. This motorboat had set out from Brindisi, Italy. After the capture, the boat was brought to the port of Durrës, where investigations will be conducted.
DEPUTY HEAD OF THE GENERAL BRANCH
KOLI SHUKE
ARCHIVAL DOCUMENT OF THE MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS, WITH THE OPERATIONAL COMMUNIQUÉ DATED APRIL 24, 1968, REGARDING THE CAPTURE OF AN ITALIAN VESSEL WITH A BRITISH FLAG AT PORTO-PALERMO
PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF ALBANIA Secret
MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS Copy No. 1
DIRECTORATE OF ADMINISTRATION AND STUDIES Tirana, 24.4.1968
OPERATIONAL COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 96
VLORA
The Army Security Branch is notified by the Security of the Vlora units that on 23.4.1968, at 15:15, an F.L.D. Sazan vessel, No. 507, and a torpedo boat captured an Italian tourist motorboat, flying a British flag, which was sailing 4 miles off our coast, between Shënandre – Llogora, and it docked at Porto-Palermo. On board were a man and a woman, British nationals. The Vlora Internal Affairs Branch has been informed and they have gone to the scene to examine the matter. The Ministry of People’s Defense has been notified. This notification was given by Saranda, but not clearly, while Vlora has not provided any further details. They were British tourists; they were released.
DEPUTY HEAD OF THE GENERAL BRANCH
KOLI SHUKE
ARCHIVAL DOCUMENT OF THE MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS, WITH THE OPERATIONAL COMMUNIQUÉ DATED MAY 5, 1968, REGARDING THE CAPTURE OF A MOTORBOAT WITH A GREEK FLAG, ON BOARD OF WHICH WAS A FAMILY OF FIVE PERSONS, WITH AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP
PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF ALBANIA “Top Secret”
MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS Copy No. 1
DIRECTORATE OF ADMINISTRATION AND STUDIES Tirana, 5.V.1968
OPERATIONAL COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 104
VLORA
On 3.5.1969, at 22:00, from the special observation of the coastal-maritime units, a motorboat coming from Greece in the direction of Vlora was spotted and captured by a torpedo boat of the F.U.D. Vlora. On this motorboat were a man and a woman, American citizens, along with their 5 children, the oldest aged 8, who are requesting political asylum in our country. They claim that a month ago they came by plane from the USA to Italy. There they presented themselves at our embassy and requested political asylum, but since it was not granted to them, on April 17 they went to Corfu, where they later bought a motorboat and with it came to Vlora. Comrades from the 3rd Branch have gone to Vlora regarding this matter.
HEAD OF THE GENERAL BRANCH
PETRIT HAKANI
ARCHIVAL DOCUMENT OF THE MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS, WITH THE OPERATIONAL COMMUNIQUÉ DATED OCTOBER 7, 1968, REGARDING THE CAPTURE OF THE GREEK VESSEL “KALIOPI MICI” NEAR THE BAY OF VLORA
PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF ALBANIA Secret
MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS Copy No. 1
DIRECTORATE OF ADMINISTRATION AND STUDIES Tirana, 7.10.1968
OPERATIONAL COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 240
On 7.10.1968, around 19:00, between Sazan and Triport, a ship heading for the Bay of Vlora was spotted by the naval forces; it was captured by our forces and turns out to be the Greek merchant ship “Kaliopi Mici,” with a tonnage of 2,000. Its captain claims that it set out from Italy for the port of Durrës, to load bitumen on behalf of Bulgaria, but during the journey they were notified by radio to return to the port of Vlora for loading. From the verification carried out by the Durrës Internal Affairs Branch, it appears that the Port Captaincy there does not expect any such vessel. The Vlora Internal Affairs Branch states that today the Corps will decide whether the Greek merchant ship will stay for loading or not.
HEAD OF THE GENERAL BRANCH
PETRIT HAKANI
ARCHIVAL DOCUMENT OF THE MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS, WITH THE OPERATIONAL COMMUNIQUÉ DATED OCTOBER 9, 1968, REGARDING THE CAPTURE OF THE GREEK VESSEL “KALIOPI MICI” NEAR THE BAY OF VLORA
PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF ALBANIA Secret
MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS Copy No. 1
DIRECTORATE OF ADMINISTRATION AND STUDIES Tirana, 9.10.1968
OPERATIONAL COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 240
NOTE
Regarding the notification made in yesterday’s communiqué, about the Greek ship “Kaliopi Mici,” which came from Italy to the Bay of Vlora, for which You order that it be verified and if it was not announced to come to Vlora, it should not be released, the 3rd Branch provides these details: “From the comrades of the Ministry of Trade, it appears that the contract signed with the Bulgarians for bitumen, results in this ship, along with several others, being assigned to take bitumen in our country, specifically in Durrës and Vlora.
This ship had been assigned for loading in Durrës. When its captain was asked why and under what order he changed course, he gives this answer: Initially I was ordered to go to Durrës; almost midway, I was notified by my owner in Piraeus to change course for Vlora, since the cargo would be taken here; for this, they informed me that I would have no obstacles and that matters were arranged. When they told me that everything was arranged, I thought that they would also have notified Vlora, so I made no other notification.”
The 3rd Branch believes that the change of its course towards Vlora pursues reconnaissance purposes regarding the situation and must be the hand of Greek Intelligence. Further investigations continue.
HEAD OF THE GENERAL BRANCH
PETRIT HAKANI
ARCHIVAL DOCUMENT OF THE MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS, WITH THE OPERATIONAL COMMUNIQUÉ DATED NOVEMBER 15, 1968, REGARDING THE CAPTURE OF THREE ITALIAN BOATS NEAR THE MOUTH OF THE VJOSA RIVER
PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF ALBANIA Secret
MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS Copy No. 1
DIRECTORATE OF ADMINISTRATION AND STUDIES Tirana, 15.11.1968
OPERATIONAL COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 273
VLORA
Notifies that on 14.11.1968, at 14:00, three Italian fishing boats were captured and detained, which were fishing in our territorial waters near the mouth of the Vjosa River. They were captured by two torpedo boats sent by the Vlora Corps. The crew of the Italian boats refused to obey our authorities. Further details will be notified later.
(Notification was given in Op. Com. No. 283, dated 27.XI.1968)
HEAD OF THE GENERAL BRANCH
PETRIT HAKANI
ARCHIVAL DOCUMENT OF THE MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS, WITH THE OPERATIONAL COMMUNIQUÉ DATED NOVEMBER 16, 1968, REGARDING THE CAPTURE OF THREE ITALIAN BOATS NEAR THE MOUTH OF THE VJOSA RIVER
PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF ALBANIA Secret
MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS Copy No. 1
DIRECTORATE OF ADMINISTRATION AND STUDIES Tirana, 16.11.1968
OPERATIONAL COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 274
VLORA
Notifies that erroneously, on 15.11.1960, the capture of three fishing boats was reported, whereas in reality, only one boat was captured; the other 2 had departed for Italy. The captain of the boat is under interrogation at the border point, while the crew is secured on the boat. During interrogation, the captain of the boat declared that the boats that left for Italy had radar equipment with them, to see how much they would be pursued by our forces to be captured.
HEAD OF THE GENERAL BRANCH
PETRIT HAKANI
ARCHIVAL DOCUMENT OF THE MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS, WITH THE OPERATIONAL COMMUNIQUÉ DATED MAY 31, 1970, REGARDING THE CAPTURE OF FOUR ITALIAN FISHING BOATS NEAR SAZAN ISLAND
PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF ALBANIA “Top Secret”
MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS Copy No. 1
DIRECTORATE OF ADMINISTRATION AND STUDIES Tirana, 31.V.1970
OPERATIONAL COMMUNIQUÉ NO. 102
ARMY SECURITY BRANCH
On 30.4.1970, at 06:30, our fishing motorboat “Antonio Gramshi” notified unit No. 9510 in Vlora that in our waters, 5-6 miles west of the coast of Sazan – Vjosë – Seman, 4 Italian fishing boats were detected fishing. It also notifies that with great difficulty it continues to stop one of the Italian fishing boats, which makes every effort to leave our territorial waters and break away from it, as do the other 3 Italian fishing boats. At 07:00, the command of the aforementioned unit sent a torpedo boat on duty in that direction, which after searching that area, at 09:55, at a distance of 12.8 miles west of Cape Seman, detected the violator of our territorial waters, the Italian fishing vessel without a flag, named “Zeus-2,” which was being pursued by our fishing boat “Antonio Gramshi.”
Our torpedo boat, with signals and various maneuvers, attempted to stop it and escort it to the Port of Vlora, but the fishing vessel “Zeus-2” continued moving to withdraw further west, using radiolocation and conducting conversations with its correspondent. Since it did not obey the multiple signals to stop, our torpedo boat, as a warning sign, fired a short burst with a machine gun and then three more bursts, with a total of 14 rounds. The direction of fire was into the air, at a 60-degree angle to the side of the fishing vessel, and none of the bullets hit it. At this point “Zeus-2” stopped but did not accept the course towards Vlora, claiming it had a breakdown and in no way accepted to take the towline of our fishing boat to be towed.
In fact, “Zeus-2” had no breakdown and it continued moving slowly and in a concealed manner to the west. At 13:00, about a mile from the torpedo boat, a seaplane flew over, which immediately left in a westerly direction. At 15:00, an Italian motorboat, armed with a machine gun, docked alongside the fishing vessel “Zeus-2.” At 15:25, our torpedo boat withdrew from the area, because due to battery discharge, communication was interrupted and it was informed that another vessel would be sent to replace it. At this time the fishing vessel “Zeus-2” departed.
The fishing vessel “Zeus-2” has violated our waters on other occasions as well, which is also confirmed by the depositions of the crew of the Italian fishing vessel “Maria-Dorio,” which was captured fishing in our waters on 14.XI.1968. Taking into account that this vessel is equipped with radiolocation devices and has entered our waters as a fishing vessel on other occasions as well, we believe that through fishing it masks its activities with the aim of reconnaissance and acts of diversion. This is reinforced by the fact that this vessel has never accepted to comply with the requests of our vessels, and solely for this fishing vessel a seaplane and an armed motorboat were sent for assistance. / Memorie.al
HEAD OF THE GENERAL BRANCH
PETRIT HAKANI
To be continued in the next issue
