Defence Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos today congratulated the Hellenic Navy personnel on board frigate “Salamis” for the safe evacuation of Greek and foreign nationals from Libya.

The congratulatory message was conveyed by the Chief of the Hellenic Navy General Staff, Vice Admiral Evangelos Apostolakis. Mr. Avramopoulos expressed “absolute satisfaction with the immediate readiness and excellent planning and execution of operation Aghinor for the safe evacuation of Greek embassy personnel from Libya as well as of Greek and foreign nationals.”

The minister also underlined that “the completion of this mission promotes the work of the Armed Forces to society and confirms our country’s active role in the greater region”.

For details about the rescue mission, CLICK HERE.

The rescue plan was extremely challenging. Below are some photographs from the mission:

Eighty Chinese nationals were among the dozens of people to be evacuated from Libya by a Greek navy frigate during the operation.

The frigate remained at a safe distance from the port and the boarding of citizens took place with inflatable boats of the Libyan Navy.

The evacuees comprised 77 Greek citizens, 78 Chinese, 12 Cypriots, 10 Britons, seven Belgians, one Russian and one Albanian, according to a statement by the Defence Ministry.

The frigate will arrive in Athens in the early hours of Saturday morning.

reek nationals were transported from the Greek embassy to the port.